United States v. Layton

• Decision Date: 06 March 1981
• Docket Number: No. CR-80-416 RFP.,CR-80-416 RFP.
• Citation: 509 F. Supp. 212
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Laurence John LAYTON, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

509 F. Supp. 212

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Laurence John LAYTON, Defendant.

No. CR-80-416 RFP.

United States District Court, N. D. California.

March 6, 1981.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

G. William Hunter, U. S. Atty., Stanford Svetcov and Robert L. Dondero, Asst. U. S. Attys., San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff United States of America.

James F. Hewitt, Federal Public Defender, Frank O. Bell, Jr., Chief Asst. Fed. Public Defender, Tony Tamburello, San Francisco, Cal., for defendant Laurence John Layton.

ORDER

PECKHAM, Chief Judge.

Laurence J. Layton, a.k.a. Larry Layton, has been indicted on four criminal counts arising from the events which occurred at the Port Kaituma airport in the nation of Guyana on November 18, 1978. Those events resulted in the death of Congressman Leo J. Ryan, then a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 11th Congressional District of California, and the wounding of Richard Dwyer, the Deputy Chief of Mission for the United States in the Republic of Guyana. The four counts of the indictment charge Mr. Layton with (1) conspiracy to murder a Congressman, under 18 U.S.C. § 351(d); (2) aiding and abetting in the murder of a Congressman, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 351(a), 2; (3) conspiracy to murder an internationally protected person, under 18 U.S.C. § 1117; and (4) aiding and abetting in the attempted murder of an internationally protected person, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1116(a), 2.

The defendant has moved for a dismissal of all of the counts of the indictment on various grounds. Many of those grounds were disposed of at a hearing held by this court on February 20, 1981.¹ The main contention pressed by defense counsel, however, is that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over these charges because the events on which these charges are based all occurred outside the territorial limits of the United States.² The court holds that there is proper subject matter jurisdiction over all the counts of the indictment and therefore denies the motion to dismiss for the reasons discussed below.³

Despite some suggestion by defense counsel that they questioned the constitutional authority of Congress to reach these crimes if committed outside the territorial boundaries of the United States, the courts of the United States have repeatedly upheld the power of Congress to attach extraterritorial effect to its penal statutes, particularly where they are being applied to citizens of the United States, as is the case in this instance. Blackmer v. United States, 284 U.S. 421, 437, 52 S.Ct. 252, 254, 76 L.Ed. 375 (1932); United States v. King, 552 F.2d 833, 850-51 (9th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 966, 97 S.Ct. 1646, 52 L.Ed.2d 357 (1977), and cases cited therein; United States v. Baker, 609 F.2d 134, 136 (5th Cir. 1980).

There are five principles under which the law of nations permits the exercise of criminal jurisdiction by a nation: territorial — jurisdiction based on the location where the alleged crime was committed, and including "objective" territorial jurisdiction, which allows countries to reach acts committed outside territorial limits but intended to produce, and producing, detrimental effects within the nation;⁴nationality — jurisdiction based on the nationality of the offender; protective — jurisdiction based on the protection of the interests and the integrity of the nation; universality — jurisdiction for certain crimes where custody of the offender is sufficient; and passive personality — jurisdiction based on the nationality of the victim. Rivard v. United States, 375 F.2d 882, 885 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, sub nom., Groleau v. United States, 389 U.S. 884, 88 S.Ct. 151, 19 L.Ed.2d 181 (1967); United States v. Rodriguez, 182 F.Supp. 479, 487 (S.D.Cal.1960), aff'd sub nom., Rocha v. United States, 288 F.2d 545 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 366 U.S. 948, 81 S.Ct. 1902, 6 L.Ed.2d 1241 (1961). The fact that Congress in the past may have favored or disfavored any particular ground for asserting extra-territorial jurisdiction is irrelevant to the consideration of Congress's constitutional power to assert that jurisdiction.

The mere fact that, in the past, Congress may not have seen fit to embody in legislation the full scope of its authorized powers is not a basis for now finding that those powers are lacking. Disuse, or even misuse of power inherent in the federal government, or given it by the Constitution, is not a valid basis for us to hold that this power may not later be employed in a proper manner.

United States v. Rodriguez, supra, 182 F.Supp. at 491; accord, United States v. King, supra, 552 F.2d at 851.

The power of Congress to authorize extra-territorial jurisdiction over the alleged crimes in this matter can be located in at least four of these principles — protective, territorial, passive personality and nationality jurisdiction. The alleged crimes certainly had a potentially adverse effect upon the security or governmental functions of the nation, thereby providing the basis for jurisdiction under the protective principle. United States v. Pizzarusso, 388 F.2d 8, 10-11 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 392 U.S. 936, 88 S.Ct. 2306, 20 L.Ed.2d 1395 (1968). The charges also suggest that the alleged offenses were intended to produce and did produce harmful effects within this nation, allowing a claim of jurisdiction under the "objective" territorial principle. The nationality of the alleged victims would also support an assertion of jurisdiction under the passive personality principle.⁵ Finally, since Mr. Layton is a citizen of the United States, "American authority over him could be based upon the allegiance he owes this country and its laws...." United States v. King, supra, 552 F.2d at 851; Blackmer v. United States, supra, 284 U.S. at 437, 52 S.Ct. at 254; United States v. Bowman, 260 U.S. 94, 98, 43 S.Ct. 39, 41, 67 L.Ed. 149 (1922); United States v. Daniszewski, 380 F.Supp. 113, 116 (E.D.N.Y. 1974). We therefore see no difficulty in upholding the authority of Congress, under the Constitution, to apply these statutes extra-territorially to the events charged in the indictment.

The question facing this court is one of statutory interpretation. For Congress did not explicitly state in any of the statutes relied on in this indictment that they were to apply extra-territorially, at least in the circumstances of this action. The issue then is whether it is proper to infer such an intent and to hold that extra-territorial jurisdiction is implicit in the respective statutes. We hold that such an inference is appropriate under each of the statutes in question.

A. 18 U.S.C. § 351 — Conspiracy to Murder a Congressman; Aiding and Abetting in the Murder of a Congressman

18 U.S.C. § 351 reads, in part,

(a) Whoever kills any individual who is a Member of Congress or a Member-of-Congress-elect shall be punished as provided by sections 1111 and 1112 of this title.

. . . . .

(d) If two or more persons conspire to kill or kidnap any individual designated in subsection (a) of this section and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be punished (1) by imprisonment for any terms of years or for life or (2) by death or imprisonment for any terms or years or for life, if death results to such individual.

Count One of the indictment in this case charges Mr. Layton under 18 U.S.C. § 351(d) with conspiracy to kill Congressman Ryan, and Count Two of the indictment charges him with aiding and abetting in the murder of Congressman Ryan, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 351, 2.⁶ The defendant asserts that this statute cannot be read to apply extra-territorially absent express Congressional intent. We disagree.

The starting point for any discussion about inferring extra-territorial jurisdiction under a criminal statute must begin with United States v. Bowman, 260 U.S. 94, 43 S.Ct. 39, 67 L.Ed. 149 (1922). The analysis set forth by the Supreme Court in that case has been applied in every subsequent case where the issue has arisen. See, e. g., United States v. Cotten, 471 F.2d 744, 750-51 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 936, 93 S.Ct. 1913, 36 L.Ed.2d 396 (1973); U.S. v. Mitchell, 553 F.2d 996, 1002-05 (5th Cir. 1977). The critical distinction is drawn in Bowman as follows:

The necessary locus for application of a statute, when not specially defined, depends upon the purpose of Congress, as evinced by the description and nature of the crime, and upon the territorial limitations upon the power and jurisdiction of a government to punish crime under the law of nations. Crimes against private individuals or their property, like assaults, murder, burglary, larceny, robbery, arson, embezzlement, and frauds of all kinds which affect the peace and good order of the community, must, of course, be committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the government where it may properly exercise it. If punishment of them is to be extended to include those committed outside of the strict territorial jurisdiction, it is natural for Congress to say so in the statute, and failure to do so will negative the purpose of Congress in this regard....

But the same rule of interpretation should not be applied to criminal statutes, which are, as a class, not logically dependent on their locality for the government's jurisdiction, but are enacted because of the right of the government to defend itself against obstruction or fraud, wherever perpetrated, especially if committed by its own citizens, officers, or agents. Some such offenses can only be committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the government because of the local acts required to constitute them. Others are such that, to limit their locus to the strictly territorial jurisdiction, would be greatly to curtail the scope and usefulness of the statute, and leave open a large immunity for frauds as easily committed by citizens on the high seas and in foreign countries as at home. In such cases, Congre

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