U.S. v. Jones

Decision Date22 December 2006
Docket NumberNo. 05-5243.,05-5243.
Citation471 F.3d 535
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles E. JONES, III, a/k/a Chuckie, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

ARGUED: William Raymond Metzner, Sr., Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellant. David J. Perri, Assistant United States Attorney, Office Of The United States Attorney, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Rita R. Valdrini Acting United States Attorney, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellee.

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER and Judge WILLIAMS joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

This case arises from a prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) (2000 & Supp. 2003), prohibiting the transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent that the minor engage in prostitution. Defendant Charles Jones was convicted for his participation in a scheme in which a thirteen-year-old girl was transported from Ohio to West Virginia to act as a prostitute at a truck stop. On appeal, Jones contends that conviction under § 2423(a) requires the government to prove that he knew the victim was underage. He also argues that remarks made by the prosecuting attorney during closing argument were improper and substantially prejudiced his right to a fair trial. Neither argument has merit. Defendant's interpretation of § 2423(a) contravenes basic tenets of statutory construction and subverts Congress' intent to protect minors against sexual exploitation. In addition, the challenged remarks by the prosecuting attorney were not improper. We thus affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Defendant Charles E. Jones III was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia for one count of Conspiracy to Transport a Minor Across State Lines for Sexual Purposes (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2423(a)) and three counts of Aiding and Abetting Transportation of a Minor Across State Lines for Sexual Purposes (18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2423(a)). The government alleged that Jones and an associate, Jamie Derek Bennett, transported a thirteen-year-old girl from Ohio to West Virginia and prostituted her at a truck stop as a means of funding the purchase of alcohol and illegal drugs.

In September of 2003, Jones and Bennett met a thirteen-year-old runaway from Wheeling, West Virginia, in Bellaire, Ohio. For three consecutive nights beginning on or around September 15, 2003, Jones and Bennett transported the victim to the Dallas Pike Truck Stop in West Virginia in order for her to perform sex acts on truckers for money. Bennett and Jones provided the victim with makeup, skimpy clothes belonging to Bennett's ex-girlfriend, and condoms and douches purchased with money provided by Jones. They developed a pricing scale for her to use for various sex acts. Jones provided her with a fake ID.

On each night at the Truck Stop, the defendant and Bennett waited in Bennett's car while the victim went out and displayed herself for the patrons of the Truck Stop. She performed sex acts inside truck cabs and, on one occasion, in a room in a nearby motel. Each night, the victim periodically returned to the car and gave the money she had earned to defendant Jones; often, Jones and Bennett would encourage her to go make more. The victim made hundreds of dollars, most of which was taken from her by Jones and Bennett. At the end of the night, the three would return to Bellaire and purchase alcohol and drugs with the prostitution proceeds. On the third night, the victim had a dangerous encounter with a "customer" and twisted her ankle in flight. At that point, she decided that she did not want to engage in any more prostitution.

At trial, the victim and Bennett testified that both Bennett and defendant Jones were present for all three trips to the Truck Stop. A companion named Jeffrey Joe Hall testified to having been present for two trips. The defendant's cousin, Charles Patterson, testified that on the first trip Jones stopped at his house to ask directions to the Truck Stop. Several witnesses testified that they saw the victim in the presence of Jones in Bellaire and heard him offer her sexual services to associates there. At the time and months afterward, Jones bragged to witnesses about "pimping out" the victim at Dallas Pike Truck Stop.

On Sunday, September 21, 2003, Bellaire police officers found the victim. The police spoke to Jones, who made a written statement that he, Bennett, and the victim had driven to Dallas Pike in order for the victim to visit someone, but he mentioned nothing about prostitution. Bennett was the first participant to disclose the prostitution scheme, and he eventually pled guilty to conspiracy and testified at trial. Hall also admitted his involvement, pled guilty to Lying to a Federal Agent, and testified at trial. Patterson had no involvement in the prostitution scheme and testified at trial.

At the close of a three-day jury trial on September 15, 2005, the jury convicted Jones on all counts. On December 5, 2005, the district court conducted a sentencing hearing at which it sentenced the defendant to 63 months of imprisonment.

On appeal, defendant argues that the district court erred in determining that 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) does not require proof that the defendant knew that the victim was under eighteen years of age. He also argues that during closing argument, the prosecutor made improper comments which prejudicially affected his right to a fair trial.

II.

Jones first argues that 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) requires the government to prove that the defendant knew that the alleged victim was under eighteen years of age. At the time of defendant Jones' alleged offense,1 § 2423(a) provided:

A person who knowingly transports an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, with intent that the individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 30 years.

18 U.S.C. § 2423(a). The defendant contends that "knowingly" applies to the clause "who has not attained the age of 18 years" and thus that the defendant's knowledge of the victim's minority is an element of the offense which the government must prove to convict. We disagree. In doing so, we join the four other circuits to have considered this question, all of which have stated that the victim's minor status is instead a fact which the prosecution must prove and for which the defendant is responsible. See United States v. Griffith, 284 F.3d 338, 351 (2d Cir.2002); United States v. Taylor, 239 F.3d 994, 997 (9th Cir.2001); United States v. Scisum, 32 F.3d 1479, 1485-86 (10th Cir.1994); United States v. Hamilton, 456 F.2d 171, 173 (3d Cir.1972) (per curiam). In the time since other circuit courts have interpreted § 2423(a) as we do today, Congress has amended § 2423 no less than nine times, never changing it to require the government to establish the defendant's knowledge of the alleged victim's age. See Pub.L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 613 (2006); Pub.L. No. 108-21, 117 Stat. 652 (2003); Pub.L. No. 107-273, 116 Stat. 1808 (2002); Pub.L. No. 105-314, 112 Stat. 2976 (1998); Pub.L. No. 104-294, 110 Stat. 3499 (1996); Pub.L. No. 104-71, 109 Stat. 774 (1995); Pub.L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat.2037 (1994); Pub.L. No. 99-628, 100 Stat. 3510 (1986); Pub.L. No. 95-225, 92 Stat. 7 (1978).

A.

The Supreme Court has "long recognized that determining the mental state required for commission of a federal crime requires `construction of the statute and . . . inference of the intent of Congress.'" Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 605, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994) (citation omitted). In this case, construction of the statute demonstrates that it does not require proof of the defendant's knowledge of the victim's minority. It is clear from the grammatical structure of § 2423(a) that the adverb "knowingly" modifies the verb "transports." Adverbs generally modify verbs, and the thought that they would typically modify the infinite hereafters of statutory sentences would cause grammarians to recoil. We see nothing on the face of this statute to suggest that the modifying force of "knowingly" extends beyond the verb to other components of the offense. "A more natural reading of the statute ... is that the requirement of knowledge applies to the defendant's conduct of transporting the person rather than to the age of the person transported." Taylor, 239 F.3d at 997.

Our interpretation gains further support from a related provision of the same statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2421 (2000). While § 2423 is entitled "Transportation of minors," § 2421 is entitled "Transportation generally" and provides:

Whoever knowingly transports any individual in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, with intent that such individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 2421. Section 2421 is virtually identical to § 2423(a) but for its lack of an age element. In the context of § 2421, the adverb "knowingly" obviously modifies the verb, "transports." It would be implausible to suggest that "knowingly" in § 2421 is intended to modify the noun "individual." So, too, would it be implausible to suggest that, in § 2423(a), where the noun "individual" is modified by the clause "who has not attained the age of 18 years," the term "knowingly" suddenly applies to both the noun and its dependent clause. Not only is such a reading...

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