United States v. Acosta-Sierra, No. 10-50575 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant, a fifty-seven-year-old native and citizen of Mexico who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, appealed from his conviction, following a bench trial, of two counts of assault on a federal officer. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding (1) the district court erred in its application of the "reasonable apprehension of harm" prong of common law assault, and because the evidence would have been sufficient to convicted Defendant of attempted battery if the district court had not relied on the erroneous model jury instruction then in effect, the judgment of conviction on the second count was reversed and remanded for retrial under the proper standard; (2) the district court did not err in precluding Defendant from introducing evidence as part of a diminished capacity defense; and (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit mental health evidence in support of Defendant's theory of self-defense.
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