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Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States,
No. 04-368 (U.S., May 31, 2005): Enron's auditor ordered financial documents destroyed pursuant to its document retention policy and was subsequently convicted of corruptly causing another person to destroy documents for use in an official proceeding. A unanimous Court reversed the conviction on a jury instruction issue, holding that the statute requires consciousness of wrongdoing and the jury instructions failed to convey this meaning. The jury was instructed that even if it believed that Andersen sincerely and honestly thought its conduct was lawful it could still convict. Good case. At trial the government steamrolled the District Court into changing the pattern jury instructions in the Fifth Circuit in a way that greatly decreased its burden. Kudos to the Supreme Court for not letting them get away with it.
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United States v. Mendoza-Larios,
No. 04-3070 (8th Cir., July 22, 2005): Solid winner on sufficiency of the evidence grounds where the defendants were arrested driving a car that contained drugs stashed into a welded compartment behind the air bag. Merely driving the car with drugs in it is not enough--there must be some evidence of knowledge of the presence of the drugs in order to convict.
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United States v. Hernandez-Hernandez
No. 07-2028 (10th Cir., March 21, 2008) (Published): Scienter: Hernandez-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen who had twice been deported, was in Mexico and drank alcohol and smoked reefers until he blacked out. When he awoke, he had miraculously been transported to the United States and claimed to have had no idea how he got here. He was arrested for illegal re-entry. In this opinion, the panel AFFIRMED the conviction over his claim that the District Court erred in disallowing evidence of the alcohol and drug use, thus preventing him from presenting a defense. The panel reasoned that such evidence was not relevant since the intent element of the crime is general and Hernandez failed to show that the acts that resulted in his presence in the United States were unintentional.
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