United States v. Wallen, No. 16-30033 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe "good faith belief" defense for a prosecution under 16 U.S.C. 1540 is governed by a subjective, rather than an objective, standard, and is satisfied when a defendant actually, even if unreasonably, believes his actions are necessary to protect himself or others from perceived danger from a grizzly bear. The Ninth Circuit vacated defendant's conviction for killing three grizzly bears in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court held that defendant was not entitled to a jury trial; the magistrate judge, who served as the trier of fact at trial, misconceived the self-defense element of the offense, and that error was not harmless; likewise, the district court applied an objective test and the error was not harmless; and defendant was not entitled to a jury trial on remand.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel vacated the defendant’s conviction after a bench trial for killing three grizzly bears in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The panel rejected the defendant’s contention that his offense was serious, rather than petty, entitling him to a trial by jury. The panel held that the magistrate judge, who served as the trier of fact at trial, misconceived the self-defense element of the offense. The panel held that the “good faith belief” defense for a prosecution under 16 U.S.C. § 1540 is governed by a subjective, rather than an objective, standard, and is satisfied when a defendant actually, even if unreasonably, believes his actions are necessary to protect himself or others from perceived danger from a grizzly bear. Because the district court applied an objective standard, and the error was not harmless, the panel vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial. The panel rejected the defendant’s contention that, even if the Constitution does not guarantee his right to a jury trial, he is entitled to one, because if he is again tried by a judge, that judge would have access to the defendant’s record of conviction, biasing the trier of fact.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.