Rice v. Paladin Enterprises, Inc.

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
• Writing for the Court: Before WILKINS, LUTTIG, and WILLIAMS; LUTTIG
• Citation: Rice v. Paladin Enterprises, Inc., 128 F.3d 233 (4th Cir. 1997)
• Decision Date: 10 November 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-2412,96-2412
• Parties: 25 Media L. Rep. 2441 Vivian RICE, Guardian and next friend of Tamielle Horn; Marilyn Farmer, Co-personal representatives of the estate of Mildred Horn; Tiffani M. Horn, Co-personal representatives of the estate of Mildred Horn; Michael D. Saunders, Individually and next friend of Colin D. Saunders, a minor and personal representative of the estate of Janice Y. Saunders; Colin D. Saunders; Janice Y. Saunders, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The PALADIN ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED, a/k/a The Paladin Press, Defendant-Appellee, and Peter C. Lund, Defendant. David Crump, Professor of Constitutional Law and Recipient of "Friend of the First Amendment" Award; National Victim Center; Stephanie Roper Foundation, Incorporated; Victims Rights Political Action Committee; The Horror Writers Association; The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression; American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capitol Area; American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado; ABC, Incorporated; America Online, Incorporated; Association of American Publishers; The Baltimore Sun Company; E.W. Scripps Company; Freedom to Read Foundation; Magazine Publishers of America, Incorporated; McClatchy Newspapers, Incorporated; Media General, Inc.; Media Professional Insurance; National Association of Broadcasters; Newspapers Association of America; The New York Times; The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Society of Professional Journalists; The Washington Post, Amici Curiae.

Page 233

128 F.3d 233

25 Media L. Rep. 2441

Vivian RICE, Guardian and next friend of Tamielle Horn Marilyn Farmer, Co-personal representatives of the estate of Mildred Horn; Tiffani M. Horn, Co-personal representatives of the estate of Mildred Horn; Michael D. Saunders Individually and next friend of Colin D. Saunders, a minor and personal representative of the estate of Janice Y Saunders; Colin D. Saunders; Janice Y. Saunders Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The PALADIN ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED, a/k/a The Paladin Press, Defendant-Appellee, and Peter C. Lund, Defendant. David Crump, Professor of Constitutional Law and Recipient of "Friend of the First Amendment" Award; National Victim Center; Stephanie Roper Foundation, Incorporated; Victims Rights Political Action Committee; The Horror Writers Association; The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression; American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capitol Area; American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado; ABC, Incorporated; America Online, Incorporated; Association of American Publishers; The Baltimore Sun Company; E.W. Scripps Company; Freedom to Read Foundation; Magazine Publishers of America, Incorporated; McClatchy Newspapers, Incorporated; Media General, Inc.; Media Professional Insurance; National Association of Broadcasters; Newspapers Association of America; The New York Times; The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Society of Professional Journalists; The Washington Post, Amici Curiae.

No. 96-2412.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued May 7, 1997.

Decided Nov. 10, 1997.

ARGUED: Rodney Alan Smolla, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, for Appellants. Thomas Buchan Kelley, Faegre & Benson, L.L.P., Denver, CO, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: John Marshall, Moldawer & Marshall, Rockville, MD; Howard Siegel, Rockville, MD; Thomas L. Heeney, Heeney, Armstrong & Heeney, Rockville, MD, for Appellants. Steven D. Zansberg, Faegre & Benson, L.L.P., Denver, CO; Lee Levine, Seth D. Berlin, Levine, Pierson, Sullivan & Koch, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Appellee. David Crump, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, TX, for Amicus Curiae Crump. Neal Goldfarb, D. Thomas Nelson, Russell Butler, Charles G. Brown, Ingersoll & Bloch, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae National Victim Center, et al. Douglas E. Winter, Bryan Cave, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Horror Writers Association. Robert M. O'Neil, J. Joshua Wheeler, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Charlottesville, VA; Dwight H. Sullivan, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland, Baltimore, MD; Arthur Spitzer, American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, Washington, DC; Mark Silverstein, American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Denver, CO, for Amici Curiae Thomas Jefferson Center, et al. Bruce W. Sanford, Henry S. Hoberman, Michael J. Lorenger, Baker & Hostetler, L.L.P., College Park, MD, for Amici Curiae ABC, et al.

Before WILKINS, LUTTIG, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge LUTTIG wrote the opinion, in which Judges WILKINS and WILLIAMS joined.

OPINION

LUTTIG, Circuit Judge:

To Those Who Think,

To Those Who Do,

To Those Who Succeed.

Success is nothing more than taking advantage of an opportunity.

A WOMAN RECENTLY ASKED HOW I could, in good conscience, write an instruction book on murder.

"How can you live with yourself if someone uses what you write to go out and take a human life?" she whined.

I am afraid she was quite offended by my answer.

It is my opinion that the professional hit man fills a need in society and is, at times, the only alternative for "personal" justice. Moreover, if my advice and the proven methods in this book are followed, certainly no one will ever know.

[A]lmost every man harbors a fantasy of living the life of Mack Bolan or some other fictional hero who kills for fun and profit. They dream of living by their reflexes, of doing whatever is necessary without regard to moral or legal restrictions. But few have the courage or knowledge to make that dream a reality.

You might be like my friends--interested but unsure, standing on the sidelines afraid to play the game because you don't know the rules. [But] within the pages of this book you will learn one of the most successful methods of operation used by an independent contractor. You will follow the procedures of a man who works alone, without backing of organized crime or on a personal vendetta. Step by step you will be taken from research to equipment selection to job preparation to successful job completion. You will learn where to find employment, how much to charge, and what you can, and cannot, do with the money you earn.

But deny your urge to skip about, looking for the "good" parts. Start where any amateur who is serious about turning professional will start--at the beginning.

[And when] [y]ou've read all the suggested material, you [will have] honed your mind, body and reflexes into a precision piece of professional machinery. You [will have] assembled the necessary tools and learned to use them efficiently. Your knowledge of dealing death [will have] increased to the point where you have a choice of methods. Finally, you [will be] confident and competent enough to accept employment.

[When you go to commit the murder, you will need] several (at least four or five pairs) of flesh-tone, tight-fitting surgical gloves. If these are not available, rubber gloves can be purchased at a reasonable price in the prescription department of most drug stores in boxes of 100. You will wear the gloves when you assemble and disassemble your weapons as well as on the actual job. Because the metal gun parts cause the rubber to wear quickly, it is a good practice to change and dispose of worn gloves several times during each operation.

[The bag you take to the kill also] should contain a few pairs of cheap handcuffs, usually available at pawn shops or army surplus stores.

Dress, as well as disguises, should be coordinated according to the job setting.

Black, dark brown or olive green clothes do not stand out and will probably appear at first glance to be a mechanic or delivery driver's uniform.... And underneath, you can wear your street clothes for a quick change after the job is completed.

The kill is the easiest part of the job. People kill one another every day. It takes no great effort to pull a trigger or plunge a knife. It is being able to do so in a manner that will not link yourself or your employer to the crime that makes you a professional.

[If you decide to kill your victim with a knife,] [t]he knife ... should have a six-inch blade with a serrated edge for making efficient, quiet kills.

The knife should have a double-edged blade. This double edge, combined with the serrated section and six-inch length, will insure a deep, ragged tear, and the wound will be difficult, if not impossible, to close without prompt medical attention.

Make your thrusts to a vital organ and twist the knife before you withdraw it. If you hit bone, you will have to file the blade to remove the marks left on the metal when it struck the victim's bone.

Using your six inch, serrated blade knife, stab deeply into the side of the victim's neck and push the knife forward in a forceful movement. This method will half decapitate the victim, cutting both his main arteries and wind pipe, ensuring immediate death.

[You might also use an ice pick to murder your victim.] ... An ice pick can ... be driven into the victim's brain, through the ear, after he has been subdued. The wound hardly bleeds at all, and death is sometimes attributed to natural causes.

[If you plan to kill your victim with a gun,] you will learn [on the following pages] how to make, without need of special engineering ability or expensive machine shop tools, a silencer of the highest quality and effectiveness. The finished product attached to your 22 will be no louder than the noise made by a pellet gun. Because it is so inexpensive (mine cost less than twenty dollars to make), you can easily dispose of it after job use without any great loss.... Your first silencer will require possibly two days total to assemble ... as you carefully follow the directions step by step. After you make a couple, it will become so easy, so routine, that you can whip one up in just a few hours.

The following items should be assembled before you begin [to build your silencer]:

-- Drill rod, 7/32 inch (order from a machine shop if not obtainable locally)

-- One foot of 1-1/2 inch (inside diameter) PVC tubing and two end caps

-- One quart of fiberglass resin with hardener

-- One yard thin fiberglass mat

[List continues]

[If you plan to kill your victim with a gun,][c]lose kills are by far preferred to shots fired over a long distance. You will need to know beyond any doubt that the desired result has been achieved.

When using a small caliber weapon like the 22, it is best to shoot from a distance of three to six feet. You will not want to be at pointblank range to avoid having the victim's blood splatter you or your clothing. At least three shots should be fired to ensure quick and sure death.

[If you plan to kill your victim from a distance,] use a rifle with a good scope and silencer and aim for the head--preferably the eye sockets if you are a sharpshooter. Many people have been shot repeatedly, even in the head, and survived to tell about it.

The rifle has a ridge on top that will easily accept a scope, even though it is not cut for one. Put the scope in place, tighten it down, then sight it in. After sighting in, scratch a mark behind each scope clamp to allow remounting of the scope without resighting each time.

Extra clips are a must for both the rifle and pistol and should be carried as a precautionary measure. Hollow-point bullets are...