Opinion ID: 2967883
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Intent Factors

Text: We begin with the intent factors of 18 U.S.C.A. § 3591(a)(2). In returning the verdict of death for each of the murder and kidnapping charges, the jury found that the government had proven two such factors beyond a reasonable doubt — intentional acts to take a life and intentional acts of violence creating a grave risk of death. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 3591(a)(2). In the indictment, Higgs is charged with killing each of the three women, by shooting [them] with a firearm, willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with premeditation, and in the perpetration of . . . kidnapping. J.A. 135-36, 140-41, 145-46. Hence, the indictment sufficiently alleged that Higgs engaged in intentional acts to take the lives of the three women and intentional acts of violence that created a grave risk of death to the three women.