United States v. Camez, No. 14-10251 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1962(c) and (d), for continuing crimes that, according to the government, spanned defendant’s eighteenth birthday. Defendant argues that the Juvenile Delinquency Act (JDA), 18 U.S.C. 5031, prohibits consideration of his pre-majority conduct as proof of the substantive crimes. The district court instructed the jury that it could convict defendant only if it found that defendant continued his participation after turning 18, and the jury’s special verdict form makes clear that the jury found that defendant, in fact, continued his participation after turning 18. The court held that the district court’s instruction, which comported with the law of most circuits that have addressed this issue, was not erroneous. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed a criminal judgment in a case in which the defendant was convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for continuing crimes that spanned his 18th birthday. The panel rejected the defendant’s contention that the Juvenile Delinquency Act prohibits consideration of the defendant’s pre-majority conduct as proof of the substantive crimes, and concluded that the defendant’s conviction must stand where the district court instructed the jury that it could convict only if it found that the defendant continued his participation after turning 18, and the jury’s special verdict form makes clear that the defendant, in fact, continued his participation after turning 18.
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