United States v. Mickey

The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for two counts of sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion. The panel held that defendant had ample notice of the charges against him and the jury was properly instructed on the nature of those charges. Therefore, defendant's argument that force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion were separate elements of the crime was unavailing. The panel clarified that the prosecution was required to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt—without a requirement to subdivide the inquiry to the atomic level—and that jury instructions should not only match the statutory language but should be internally consistent. The panel also held that there was no constructive amendment of the indictment where the omission of the phrase "or any combination of such means" in the indictment did not seriously affect the integrity of the proceedings. In this case, the evidence at trial that defendant used force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion in trafficking his victims was voluminous and overwhelming. View "United States v. Mickey" on Justia Law