United States v. De Vaughn, No. 11-1225 (10th Cir. 2012)
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Defendant Jay Stuart De Vaughn mailed twelve hoax anthrax letters to the President of the United States, seven members of Congress, and two Argentine consulates in the United States. He pled guilty to multiple counts of mailing threatening communications. Defendant challenged the validity of the charges, arguing his statements did not constitute "threats" and that applying these statutes to him violated the First Amendment. "Addressing these arguments requires some straightforward statutory construction and the application of controlling Supreme Court precedent. Yet this case is not as simple as it seems." Defendant pled guilty unconditionally without reserving a right to appeal, but the Government has failed to raise the preclusive effect of Defendant's guilty plea. The issue before the Tenth Circuit included then a determination of whether Defendant's guilty plea deprives the Court of jurisdiction and prevented it from reaching the merits. The Government also sought to dismiss two of the cases on appeal for lack of territorial jurisdiction. Ultimately, the Tenth Circuit concluded that it had jurisdiction over the case and affirmed.
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