Opinion ID: 3029812
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conspicuous Place

Text: [2] This Court has not yet interpreted the meaning of “conspicuous place” in § 1315(c)(1).2 The district court adopted 2 The decision in United States v. Lunstedt, 997 F.2d 665 (9th Cir. 1993), is not on point. There, we upheld a jury’s finding that a sign was “conspicuously” posted pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 930(g) (firearm possesUNITED STATES v. BICHSEL 569 the Black’s Law Dictionary definition of “conspicuous place,” as quoted in United States v. Strakoff, 719 F.2d 1307, 1309 (5th Cir. 1983): Within the meaning of a statute relating to the posting of notices, a “conspicuous place” means one which is reasonably calculated to impart the information in question. We also adopt this helpful definition of “conspicuous place.” [3] As in Strakoff, the regulation here was not posted in a conspicuous place “reasonably calculated to impart” notice. In Strakoff, the Fifth Circuit held that notices posted on two bulletin boards on the first floor (one in a mail box lobby and one on an inside wall of the courthouse lobby) and on the second, third and fourth floors next to the elevator buttons, were not conspicuous under this definition. 719 F.2d at 1309-10. There, a person “entering the Courthouse through either public entrance, going directly to and through the metal detector, and boarding an elevator . . . would never see a posted notice.” Id. at 1309. Further, Strakoff gave “uncontradicted testimony that he had not seen any notice.” Id. [4] Father Bichsel, much like Strakoff, had no way of seeing the posted notice inside the courthouse, and testified that he had not seen any notice. While the district court held that the rules posted inside the courthouse, outside of Father Bichsel’s view, were in a “conspicuous place,” a place not accessision in federal court), where the warning sign was posted on the bulletin board in the foyer, just inside the only public entrance to the courthouse. Lunstedt, 997 F.2d at 668. A person entering the courthouse, as Lunstedt did, would have to walk past the sign to reach the metal detector. Id. Here, Father Bichsel did not have to walk past any sign posting the building’s rules and regulations to chain himself to the outside doors, so Lunstedt’s affirmance of a jury verdict without interpreting the term “conspicuous” does not directly apply. 570 UNITED STATES v. BICHSEL ble, let alone within reading distance, to an outside courthouse visitor cannot be conspicuous enough to impart notice of the regulation. Most likely knowing this, the courthouse staff places a “sandwich board” sign outside the building during business hours to reasonably impart notice. Officer Christine Brannan testified that the sign is “to notify people that they’re entering Federal property and CFR regulations apply outside the main entrance.” This sign, however, was not yet posted before Father Bichsel’s arrest that day. Therefore, we hold that the indoor posting of the regulation was not in a “conspicuous place” reasonably calculated to impart notice to Father Bichsel or a similarly situated individual outside of the courthouse.