United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant's conviction for attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity is affirmed where: 1) there was unlikely to be any confusion among the jurors about the meaning of "substantial step" on the facts of this case; 2) jurors were not required to unanimously agree as to which particular act by the defendant constituted a substantial step; and 3) expert testimony as to whether defendant was likely to actually have sex with the minor was irrelevant to whether defendant committed the charged offense.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/22/2010
• Published 03/22/2010

Judges

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel