United States v. Gray, No. 13-1909 (1st Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant, a former flight attendant, was convicted of giving false information regarding a bomb threat on an airplane. The statute Defendant was accused of violating requires the government to prove that Defendant wrote the threat “knowing the information to be false, willfully and maliciously, or with reckless disregard for the safety of human life.” Defendant appealed, arguing that she was denied a fundamentally fair trial when her jury was instructed that malice meant “to act with an evil purpose or improper motive.” The First Circuit agreed with Defendant and vacated the conviction, holding that the district court’s jury instruction was erroneous, and Defendant was prejudiced by the error. Remanded for a new trial.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on March 16, 2015.
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