USA. v. Gaytan, PASILLAS-GAYTA
| Decision Date | 14 July 1999 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 98-30303,PASILLAS-GAYTA,98-30303 |
| Citation | 192 F.3d 864 |
| Parties | (9th Cir. 1999) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOSEefendant-Appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Thomas Monaghan, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Yakima, Washington, for the defendant-appellant.
Jane Kirk, Assistant United States Attorney, Yakima, Washington, for the plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington; Alan A. McDonald, District Judge, Presiding, D.C. No. CR-97-00500-AAM.
Before: Thomas M. Reavley,* Arthur L. Alarcon and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by Judge Reavley
The memorandum disposition filed September 1, 1999, is redesignated as an authored opinion by Judge Reavley.
Jose Gaytan-Pasillas (Gaytan) appeals his conviction for unlawful procurement of naturalization. Because we agree with him that the jury was improperly instructed on the mens rea requirement for this crime, we reverse. And because we conclude that he proved his defense in obtaining a verdict on the companion count, we order an acquittal.
Gaytan was charged in a two-count indictment. Count 1 alleged that, on or about December 7, 1995, the date of his naturalization interview, in violation of 18 U.S.C.S 1546(a), Gaytan knowingly made a false statement of material fact in his application for naturalization, by representing that he had never been convicted of a crime other than a motor vehicle infraction, when in fact he had been convicted of second degree theft. Count 2 alleged that Gaytan, in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 1425, "knowingly procured, contrary to law," his naturalization, because the theft conviction made him ineligible for naturalization.
Gaytan does not dispute that he had been convicted of theft, and that he misrepresented that he had no such conviction in his application for naturalization and in his interview with the INS. At trial he stipulated to the prior conviction, its materiality, and his resultant ineligibility for naturalization. His defense was that the misrepresentations were innocent mistakes, due to his poor understanding of English and limited education. A minister testified that she had filled out part of the naturalization application for Gaytan, and that his English was very limited. A teacher and Gaytan's girlfriend testified that Gaytan's English language skills were limited. Gaytan also testified, through an interpreter, that he had trouble understanding the questions in the application and at the interview, and did not know that his prior conviction precluded him from becoming a citizen.
In instruction 15, the court instructed the jury:
The defendant is charged in Count 2 of the indictment with unlawfully obtaining his naturalization inviolation of the laws of the United States. In order for the defendant to be found guilty of that charge, the government must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that from on or about October 19, 1995, through December 13, 1995, in Walla, Walla, Washington, the defendant knowingly acquired naturalization;
and Second, the defendant's naturalization was contrary to law in that the defendant claimed he had never been arrested, cited, charged, indicted, convicted, fined, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance other than for no operator's license when in fact the defendant was convicted of theft in the second degree on March 9, 1992.
The next instruction explained that Gaytan's theft conviction "rendered the defendant ineligible for naturalization."
Gaytan's counsel objected to instruction 15, on grounds that the mensrea requirement was misstated. The court overruled this objection. During deliberations, the jury sent out two questions regarding the instructions on count 2 (S 1425). First, it asked: "Inst. #15 2nd question (3rd paragraph) -Is the defendant's naturalization contrary to law dependent on his `claim' that he was never arrested or is it contrary to law because of his conviction?" The court instructed the jury: "Please refer to Instruction No. 16 which states as follows: `This conviction rendered the defendant ineligible for naturalization.' " In effect, the court instructed the jury that the prior conviction, by itself, rendered the naturalization "contrary to law" under S 1425, regardless of what Gaytan had represented or his state of mind in making representations. The jury then asked "Does the defendant's intent have ANY bearing on *Count 2 (* second element) of the indictment?" The court responded: "The requirements for conviction under the two different counts is made clear by a reading of the instructions." The district court did not advise defense counsel of these questions or consult with counsel before issuing its answers.
Gaytan was convicted on count 2 and acquitted on count 1.
Section 1425(a) provides that "[w]hoever knowingly procures or attempts to procure, contrary to law, the naturalization of any person, or documentary or other evidence of naturalization or of citizenship" shall be guilty of the offense.
The jury was instructed that the elements of S 1425 were that Gaytan "knowingly acquired naturalization," and that this naturalization was contrary to law. The jury was further instructed that his naturalization was contrary to law because of the theft conviction. Since applying for naturalization, absent the oddest circumstances, is necessarily a knowing act, the jury charge essentially made S 1425 a strict liability offense, one which imposes criminal liability without regard to the defendant's state of mind at the time he sought naturalization. The government argues that the charge correctly stated the law because S 1425 is a "public welfare" statute which does not have a culpable state of mind requirement. Gaytan appears to argue that the statute requires that he knew that applying for naturalization given his prior conviction was itself a criminal act. For example, he complains on appeal that "[t]he court did not instruct the jury that it needed to find that Mr. Gaytan knew that his procurement of naturalization was illegal." Stated another way, he contends that criminal liability under S 1425 requires proof that the defendant was familiar with that statute. We cannot agree with either position.
First, we cannot agree with Gaytan that the government had to prove that he knew that applying for naturalization with the prior conviction was illegal. The general rule in the criminal law is that the defendant does not have to know that his conduct is illegal; hence the expression that "ignorance of the law is no excuse." "The rule that `ignorance of the law will not excuse' is deep in our law . . . ."1
The Supreme Court recognized "the venerable principle that ignorance of the law generally is no defense to a criminal charge" in Ratzlaf v. United States. 2 Nevertheless, it held that in 31 U.S.C. S 5322, applicable to structuring financial transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements, Congress decreed otherwise and required proof that the defendant knew the structuring was illegal. This decision rested on the fact that the statute applies to a person "willfully violating" the antistructuring provision, and the Court's conclusion that "currency structuring is not inevitably nefarious."3 The Court noted authority that "willful" implies a violation of a known legal duty.4
Similarly, in Bryan v. United States,5 the Court held that a conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 924(a)(1)(D) for "willfully" dealing in firearms without a license requires proof that the defendant knew his conduct was unlawful, but does not require proof that the defendant was aware of the specific licensing requirement that is the basis of his indictment and conviction.6 The Court distinguished statutes which only require "knowing" conduct. Such statutes "merely require[ ] proof of knowledge of the facts that constitute the offense," as opposed to knowledge that the conduct is unlawful.7 In United States v. International Minerals & Chemical Corp.,8 the Court construed a statute providing that whoever "knowingly violates" certain regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was guilty of a criminal offense. The defendant was convicted of shipping acid without complying with an ICC reporting requirement. The Court held that ignorance of the reporting requirement was not a defense, finding no congressional intent to "carv[e] out an exception to the general rule that ignorance of the law is no excuse."9 Because S 1425 requires only "knowing" conduct, rather than imposing the stricter "willful" requirement, we hold that Gaytan did not have to know that procuring naturalization was a criminal act, although such knowledge would of course suffice to impose criminal liability.
On the other hand, we cannot agree with the government that S 1425 imposes no mens rea requirement, other than the requirement of intentionally applying for naturalization. As explained above, applying for naturalization is almost always a voluntary, intentional act. We believe that the statute requires a culpable state of mind as well. The government's construction of the statute would criminalize completely innocent conduct and would essentially impose strict liability on defendants. It would apply to defendants who did not understand the documents they were signing, as Gaytan claims. It would also apply to those who innocently apply for citizenship outside of the statutory time periods for making such application, and those who innocently apply for citizenship but are not sufficiently proficient in the English language to qualify for citizenship. The general rule is that criminal statutes do not impose strict liability. "Such `strict liability'...
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