U.S. v. Komisaruk, 88-5021
| Decision Date | 10 May 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-5021,88-5021 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Susan Alexis KOMISARUK, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Daniel R. Williams, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, San Francisco, California, and Benjamin D. Gibson, Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant, Susan Alexis Komisaruk.
Nora M. Manella, Asst. U.S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee, U.S.
Appeal from the United States District Judge for the Central District of California.
Before FLETCHER, ALARCON and HALL, Circuit Judges.
Susan A. Komisaruk appeals from the judgment of conviction for willfully damaging government property in an amount exceeding $100.00 in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1361. Komisaruk intentionally vandalized an Air Force computer which was assigned to the United States space shuttle program. The estimated cost of repairs for the computer equipment, including labor, exceeded $700,000.00. On June 3, 1987, Komisaruk held a press conference and announced publicly that she had destroyed the ground control center for the Navstar military navigational system. Komisaruk was arrested following the press conference. Komisaruk was found guilty after a jury trial. She was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment for five years and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $500,000.00.
Komisaruk seeks reversal on the following grounds:
One. The district court erred in issuing an in limine order precluding Komisaruk from introducing evidence of international law, the law of necessity and crime prevention, to raise a reasonable doubt that she possessed the requisite intent for a violation of Sec. 1361.
Two. The district court erred in precluding her from presenting evidence that her motive in destroying the computer components was based on her understanding of the requirements of international law.
Three. The district court erred in precluding her from attempting to negate the government's evidence that the computer components were the property of the United States as that term is used in Section 1361.
Four. The district court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of trespass.
An in limine order precluding the admission of evidence or testimony is an evidentiary ruling. United States v. Poschwatta, 829 F.2d 1477, 1483 (9th Cir.1987), cert denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1024, 98 L.Ed.2d 989 (1988). We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. Id. at 1481.
Komisaruk contends that she was denied the right to offer evidence to raise a reasonable doubt that she possessed the necessary mental state to sustain a conviction for a violation of section 1361.
At a pre-trial hearing, the court granted the government's motion in limine and prohibited Komisaruk from introducing her political, religious, or moral beliefs as evidence (1) to support defenses of necessity and crime prevention, (2) to negate the requisite elements of the corpus delicti concerning intent and ownership of the property by the United States, (3) to explain her admission of guilt in the redacted press release, and (4) to prove the morality or immorality of national defense policies. The district court concluded that Komisaruk's personal disagreement with national defense policies could not be used to establish a legal justification for violating federal law nor as a negative defense to the government's proof of the elements of the charged crime. During trial, the district court rejected Komisaruk's attempt to introduce the same evidence to prove her motive in destroying the Air Force's computer.
Komisaruk advanced various theories in an attempt to persuade the trial court that she should be allowed to introduce evidence of her subjective beliefs concerning her responsibility under international law to destroy the Navstar navigational system. First, she attempted to introduce evidence of her anti-nuclear war views to rebut motive evidence allegedly offered by the government. Second, she contended that she should be entitled to establish that under international law the Navstar navigational system was illegal and therefore she did not intend to injure property lawfully owned by the United States. Third, she advised the court that she was prepared to present expert witnesses and to introduce Air Force documents in support of her belief that the Navstar navigational system was illegal under principles of international law to negate the intent element of section 1361. Fourth, Komisaruk argued that she had a right to cross-examine government witnesses to bring into evidence the words she had written on the walls of the building in which the computer was located, after the witnesses had testified about her graffiti without reference to the actual words she had written. Fifth, she attempted to introduce the statements she had made about international law to explain the admissions contained in the redacted press release.
We discuss each of the mental state arguments under separate headings.
Komisaruk argued that the in limine order precluded her from presenting testimony of her motive in dismantling the computer system to negate the government's evidence regarding her intent. She argues that "the prosecution introduced its own speculations as to Ms. Komisaruk's motives from which it hoped to have the jury infer the requisite specific intent and view Ms. Komisaruk in a negative light." The record does not support this assertion.
The government introduced evidence that Komisaruk made statements at the press conference that as a result of her conduct she had been "noticed," that she "expected to get arrested," and that she wanted "to damage everything in sight." Komisaruk did not deny that she made these statements. She argued, however, that the jury could draw adverse inferences from these statements concerning her character and motive for "self-aggrandizement" and "self-punishment."
Komisaruk was not denied the opportunity to rebut these inferences. The district court informed counsel that the in limine order would not be violated if the defense called Komisaruk's father to testify to the absence of character traits for self-aggrandizement or self-punishment. For reasons not reflected in the record, Mr. Komisaruk was not called as a witness.
The Supreme Court has instructed that "[w]ithin limits, the [district] judge may control the scope of rebuttal testimony ... [and] may refuse to allow cumulative, repetitive, or irrelevant testimony." Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 86-87, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 1334-35, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976) (emphasis added).
Komisaruk's statements at her press conference concerning international law were not relevant to any issue in the case. Komisaruk was given the opportunity to rebut the unfavorable inferences that could be drawn from her statements with relevant evidence. Therefore, the in limine order properly precluded the irrelevant statements made at the press conference concerning international law to negate intent.
Komisaruk claimed that evidence of her belief, as informed by international law, that the computer was not property would provide a basis for negating the specific intent necessary to violate Sec. 1361. Komisaruk complains that she was entitled to present evidence of her views on international law, notwithstanding the court's conclusion that this notion was "far-fetched." Komisaruk argues that every factual theory presented by the defendant must be submitted to the jury regardless of whether the trial court believes it is incredible or silly. Komisaruk clearly misstates the law. A district court may limit evidence to proof that is legally relevant. Fed.R.Evid. 402; United States v. Gomez, 846 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir.1988). We have held that evidence may be excluded following an in limine hearing if the evidence described in the defendant's offer of proof is insufficient as a matter of law to establish a defense. United States v. Dorrell, 758 F.2d 427, 430 (9th Cir.1985); United States v. Cottier, 759 F.2d 760, 763 (9th Cir.1985).
In support of her argument, Komisaruk mistakenly relied upon the Supreme Court's decision in Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288 (1952). In Morissette, the district court ruled that the crime of converting government property (18 U.S.C. Sec. 641) required no criminal intent, that a claim of ignorance that the property was owned by the government was no defense, and that the jury was allowed to presume the defendant possessed the requisite intent. The Supreme Court reversed and held that the statute was not intended to apply to "unwitting, inadvertent, and unintended conversions" of government property. Id. at 270, 72 S.Ct. at 253. The Supreme Court ruled that Morissette was entitled to have the jury determine whether he had the requisite intent to violate the statute or whether he was unaware that the government owned the property because he mistakenly believed it had been abandoned.
Unlike the circumstances in Morissette, the district court presented the issue of intent to the jury in the instant matter. Furthermore, Komisaruk admitted destroying the Air Force computer system precisely because she believed it was a United States military operation used for the national defense system. Komisaruk did not claim ignorance of the government's proprietary claim over the computer. Instead, she admitted breaking into an Air Force building for the specific purpose of destroying a navigational system she believed was possessed and controlled by the United States military for a purpose she opposes.
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