Opinion ID: 182213
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Supporting Roth's Conviction for Exporting the Agency Proposal

Text: When reviewing a conviction for sufficiency of evidence, we ask `whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, and after giving the government the benefit of all inferences that could reasonably be drawn from the testimony, any rational trier of fact could find the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' United States v. Ross, 502 F.3d 521, 529 (6th Cir.2007) (quoting United States v. M/G Trans. Servs., Inc., 173 F.3d 584, 589 (6th Cir.1999)). This is a `very heavy burden.' Id. (quoting United States v. Davis, 397 F.3d 340, 344 (6th Cir.2005)). Roth claims that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that he willfully exported the Agency Proposal because he never opened the electronic file and could not have known its contents until after he returned from China. However, the purpose of the Agency Proposal was to eventually build military munitions, and it was premised upon the Phase II technology, which University officials had told Roth was export controlled. Furthermore, University officials instructed Roth to take nothing concerning Phase II with him to China. Moreover, Roth and Sherman had discussed the Boeing information and it is not disputed that Roth knew it was export controlled. While Roth might not have opened the Proposal to see that the Boeing information was contained therein, it would only make sense that Roth and Sherman discussed it in regard to either Phase II or the Proposal. Ultimately, Roth knew that the research he was conducting in Phase II was export controlled, and it was essentially the same technology used in the Proposal. He also knew that the information from Boeing was export controlled. Roth's conviction could be sufficiently supported by nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Tucker v. Palmer, 541 F.3d 652, 657 (6th Cir. 2008) (citing United States v. Kelley, 461 F.3d 817, 825 (6th Cir.2006)). Therefore, when viewing all the facts in the light most favorable to the government, a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Roth knew that the Proposal contained export controlled information.