No. 23-6681

Danny Lowe v. United States

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2024-02-06
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: appeal criminal-intent due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea ninth-circuit sex-trafficking
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2024-03-01
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is the jury instruction that misstates the mens rea of the offense harmless where the sole issue at trial is the defendant's criminal intent?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED Danny Ray Lowe was convicted of attempting to sex traffic two fictional minors in an undercover sing. As the Court of Appeals acknowledged, “The critical issue at trial—the only real point of contention—was Mr. Lowe’s intent.” Despite the fact that the only issue presented to the jury concerned his criminal intent, the District Court erroneously instructed the jury that the mens rea is “knowledge” rather than “intent” and his counsel failed to object. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals found the error to be harmless. Is it inconsistent with this Court’s harmless error jurisprudence to find a jury instruction that misstates the mens rea of the offense harmless where the sole issue at trial is whether the defendant acted with criminal intent? i

Docket Entries

2024-03-04
Petition DENIED.
2024-02-15
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/1/2024.
2024-02-13
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
2024-01-16
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 7, 2024)

Attorneys

Danny Lowe
Thomas E. Weaver Jr.The Law Office of Thomas E. Weaver, Petitioner
Thomas E. Weaver Jr.The Law Office of Thomas E. Weaver, Petitioner
United States of America
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent