United States v. Mak, No. 08-50148 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseChi Mak appealed his jury conviction of conspiring to violate export control laws and attempting to export a defense article to the People's Republic of China in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the AECA and its implementing regulations do not violate Mak's First Amendment rights since the AECA is substantially related to the protection of an important governmental interest; (2) the court's instructions to the jury concerning technical data did not violate Mak's Due Process rights because they expressly required the government to prove that the documents at issue were not in the public domain; (3) the court's instructions to the jury on willfulness did not violate Mak's Sixth Amendment rights because they did not prevent the jury from fully deliberating as to whether Mak acted willfully, as required by the AECA; and (4) the documents at issue were covered by the United States Munitions List at the time Mak attempted to export them, and therefore, Mak's conviction did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause.
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