United States v. Thum, No. 13-50176 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant is a United States citizen with a history of convictions for smuggling illegal aliens. At issue was whether defendant encouraged or induced an illegal alien to reside in the United States or aided and abetted the commission of this crime merely by escorting that alien from a fast food restaurant near the border to a nearby vehicle. The court concluded that encouraging an illegal alien to reside in the United States must mean something more than merely transporting such an alien within this country. On this scant record, no rational trier of fact could conclude that defendant encouraged an illegal alien to reside in the United States. Accordingly, there was insufficient evidence to prove that defendant aided and abetted the commission of the crime. The court vacated the district court's judgment revoking defendant's supervised release and remanded with instructions to dismiss the petition.
Court Description: Criminal Law. Vacating the district court’s judgment revoking supervised release, the panel held that the defendant did not encourage or induce an illegal alien to reside in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), nor aid and abet the commission of that crime in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(II), merely by escorting an alien from a fast food restaurant near the border to a nearby vehicle. The panel remanded with instructions to dismiss the petition.
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