Opinion ID: 186332
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Locus Delicti

Text: 18 Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that, unless otherwise permitted by statute or the Rules, the government must prosecute an offense in a district where the offense was committed. FED. R. CRIM. P. 18. When the statute proscribing the offense does not contain an express venue provision, `[t]he locus delicti must be determined from the nature of the crime alleged and the location of the act or acts constituting it.' Cabrales, 524 U.S. at 6-7, 118 S.Ct. at 1776 (quoting United States v. Anderson, 328 U.S. 699, 703, 66 S.Ct. 1213, 1216, 90 L.Ed. 1529 (1946)). In performing this inquiry, a court, must initially identify the conduct constituting the offense (the nature of the crime) and then discern the location of the commission of the criminal acts. United States v. Rodriguez-Moreno, 526 U.S. 275, 279, 119 S.Ct. 1239, 1241, 143 L.Ed.2d 388 (1999). 19 Here, Morgan was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 641. That statute provides that any person who receives, conceals, or retains [any record, voucher, money, or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof] with intent to convert it to his use or gain, knowing it to have been embezzled, stolen, purloined or converted commits a criminal offense. It is undisputed that Morgan did not receive the computer until it arrived in Maryland. It is also undisputed that the computer thereafter remained in Maryland until it was recovered by the authorities. The Government contends, however, that Morgan constructively received the computer at the moment Sweeney removed the computer from the warehouse, and therefore Morgan committed acts constituting the offense within the District of Columbia. The Government's position is meritless. 20 Because a person may be said to receive a thing when he take[s] possession of it, WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 1894 (1993), and because it is well settled that criminal possession may be either actual or constructive, see, e.g., United States v. Alexander, 331 F.3d 116, 127 (D.C.Cir.2003), it is plausible that one may receive stolen property within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 641 by obtaining constructive possession of it. See also 3 WAYNE R. LAFAVE, SUBSTANTIVE CRIMINAL LAW § 20.2(b), at 157 (2d ed.2003); 3 CHARLES E. TORCIA, WHARTON'S CRIMINAL LAW § 444, at 612-15 (15th ed.1995). However, we have never explicitly held that a conviction for receiving stolen property may be premised upon such a theory of constructive receipt, and we have no need to do so today. For even assuming that a conviction under § 641 can be had on such evidence, we conclude that the evidence in this case does not support a finding that Morgan constructively possessed the computer within the District. 21 A finding of constructive possession requires evidence establishing that the defendant had the ability to exercise knowing dominion and control over the items in question. Alexander, 331 F.3d at 127 (internal quotation marks omitted). The evidence proffered by the Government in this case, even when viewed in the light most favorable to it, does not permit the conclusion that Morgan had the ability to exercise knowing dominion and control over the computer within the District of Columbia. 22 The Government relies on two pieces of evidence in support of its argument: (1) evidence indicating that, at some time prior to the delivery of the computer, Jeffrey Morgan approached Sweeney and Lewis Morgan at the Department of Education and asked them when he would be receiving his computer; and (2) evidence that Sweeney called Jeffrey Morgan to arrange for the delivery of the computer to Susanne Morgan's address. From these pieces of evidence, the Government argues that it is reasonable to infer that both Sweeney and Jeffrey Morgan considered Jeffrey Morgan to be the intended recipient of the computer, even though it was being delivered to Susanne Morgan's address. However, even assuming that the Government is correct that this evidence supports the inference that both parties considered appellant to be the intended recipient of the computer, this, without more, is simply insufficient to support a finding that appellant had the ability to exercise knowing dominion and control over the computer when it was in the District of Columbia. 23 On the contrary, the evidence in this case indicates that if anyone exercised dominion and control over the computers Sweeney was transporting, it was Mellen. It is undisputed that Sweeney ordered the computers at Mellen's direction and delivered them according to Mellen's instructions and to the locations she specified. Moreover, although Sweeney contacted appellant to arrange for delivery of one of the computers to Susanne Morgan's address (at Mellen's direction), there is no indication that Mellen relinquished her control over the computer. Indeed, on one occasion, Mellen directed Sweeney to pick up a television from the Bell Atlantic warehouse and bring it to a location in D.C. While Sweeney was in transit, however, Mellen redirected the delivery to a new location in Maryland. See Trial Tr. of 10/29/02 a.m. session at 52-53, reprinted in Appendix at 159-60. The Government identifies nothing to suggest that Mellen could not similarly have redirected the computer in question before it arrived at Susanne Morgan's house. 24 In short, the evidence identified by the Government does not permit the conclusion that appellant constructively possessed the computer once Sweeney removed it from the warehouse. Therefore, we reject the Government's argument that venue lies because appellant constructively received the computer in the District of Columbia. 25