Opinion ID: 167799
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Justification Instructions

Text: 20 Claiming the evidence at most showed he only possessed the pistol briefly and for the sole purpose of taking it from his twelve year old brother, Al-Rekabi contends the trial court erred by refusing to instruct on his proposed necessity and fleeting (transitory) possession defenses. The district court concluded the evidence did not support either defense. 21 `A criminal defendant is entitled to an instruction on his theory of defense provided that theory is supported by some evidence and the law.' United States v. Alcorn, 329 F.3d 759, 767 (10th Cir.2003) (quoting United States v. Haney, 318 F.3d 1161, 1163 (10th Cir.2003) (en banc)). A defendant is not entitled to an instruction which lacks a reasonable legal and factual basis. United States v. Turner, 44 F.3d 900, 901 (10th Cir.1995) (internal quotation omitted). For the purposes of determining the sufficiency of the evidence to raise the jury issue, the testimony most favorable to the defendant should be accepted. United States v. Scull, 321 F.3d 1270, 1275 (10th Cir.2003) (internal quotation omitted). We review de novo whether the jury instructions given were adequate, but review for an abuse of discretion the denial of defense instructions for necessity and fleeting possession. See United States v. Meraz-Valeta, 26 F.3d 992, 995 (10th Cir.1994), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Aguirre-Tello, 353 F.3d 1199, 1208 (10th Cir.2004); United States v. Williams, 403 F.3d 1188, 1195 n. 7 (10th Cir.2005).
22 The necessity defense is a narrow exception to stringent federal firearms laws. See United States v. Adkins, 196 F.3d 1112, 1115 (10th Cir.1999) ([The] federal firearms laws impose something approaching absolute liability.) (internal quotation omitted). The necessity defense may excuse an otherwise unlawful act if the defendant shows that `(1) there is no legal alternative to violating the law, (2) the harm to be prevented is imminent, and (3) a direct, causal relationship is reasonably anticipated to exist between defendant's action and the avoidance of harm.' United States v. Unser, 165 F.3d 755, 764 (10th Cir.1999) (quoting Meraz-Valeta, 26 F.3d at 995). The defense `does not arise from a choice of several courses of action. . . . It can be asserted only by a defendant who was confronted with . . . a crisis which did not permit a selection from among several solutions, some of which did not involve criminal acts.' Turner, 44 F.3d at 902 (quoting United States v. Seward, 687 F.2d 1270, 1276 (10th Cir.1982)). See generally United States v. Vigil, 743 F.2d 751, 756 (10th Cir.1984) (to raise necessity defense, defendant must establish he faced an unlawful and present, imminent, and impending [threat] of such a nature as to induce a well-grounded apprehension of death or serious bodily injury) (internal quotations omitted); United States v. Lewis, 628 F.2d 1276, 1279 (10th Cir.1980) (defense of necessity is based on a real emergency and may be asserted only by a defendant who was confronted with a crisis as a personal danger). The necessity exception should be strictly and parsimoniously applied. 7 23 Al-Rekabi must prove his claimed defenses by a preponderance of the evidence. The government is not required to disprove them. Dixon, 126 S.Ct. at 2442-43. 8 To qualify for an instruction on an affirmative defense such as necessity a defendant must produce evidence of each element sufficient to warrant its consideration by the jury. Bailey, 444 U.S. at 415, 100 S.Ct. 624 ([B]ecause a defendant is entitled to have the credibility of his testimony, or that of witnesses called on his behalf, judged by the jury, it is essential that the testimony given or proffered meet a minimum standard as to each element of the defense so that, if a jury finds it to be true, it would support an affirmative defense—here that of duress or necessity.). We respect the trial judge's role as gatekeeper, reviewing such decisions for an abuse of discretion. Meraz-Valeta, 26 F.3d at 995; Williams, 403 F.3d at 1195 n. 7. 24 The trial judge refused the necessity instruction. I think the cases are to the point that there's an imminent threat, and there had to be no other reasonable alternative courses of action. From what I've heard, he could have turned the boy around, marched him back, et cetera. (R. Supp. Vol. I. at 3.) Even under a less deferential standard we would agree with the trial judge. While we view the evidence favorably to Al-Rekabi, we also recognize his burden of proof on the defense and his corresponding obligation to produce evidence on each element of that defense. He failed to do so. 25 First and foremost, Al-Rekabi must show he had no reasonable legal alternative to possession of the pistol, whether that possession is actual or constructive. Seward, 687 F.2d at 1276. The point of this requirement is to force an actor to evaluate the various options presented and choose the best one. In most cases, there will be a clear legal alternative. The government presents two such alternatives: 1) marching Hussein back to the owner of the pistol to return it, or 2) ordering Hussein to put the pistol on the ground and having Whitfield watch it while Al-Rekabi reported the pistol to the police. We agree that at least one of these alternatives would have been reasonable. The trial judge specifically mentioned one— marching Hussein back with the pistol. Her observation underscores critical components of the necessity defense. First, all reasonable alternatives must be foreclosed. Second, if there is no clear legal alternative, an individual would be permitted to violate the law, but only in a very limited way. Thus, for example, the necessity defense might allow an individual to take possession, actual or constructive, of stolen goods, but only for the period of time necessary to return them to their owner or turn them into the police. 26 Although some leeway needs be given to individuals responding to an emergency, they must still act in the most responsible manner available under the circumstances. Not only did Al-Rekabi fail to exhaust legal alternatives, the necessity he claims would not permit his cavalier response. In no version of the events did he report the stolen pistol to the police, 9 return it to the true owner, or attempt to leave it in a safe place where it could be found by the police, who were actively looking for it. Some attempt to place a stolen pistol into the hands of the police is an irreducible minimum in evaluating Al-Rekabi's necessity defense, especially since it appears his possession (actual or constructive) and hence his crime was continuing. 10 By keeping or stashing the pistol, or by directing another to do so, Al-Rekabi continued to perpetuate the underlying crime—depriving the true owner of possession and maintaining control of it in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j)—making the necessity defense unavailable. The justification of necessity lasts only as long as the circumstances giving rise to it. That is the potent lesson of Bailey. 444 U.S. at 415, 100 S.Ct. 624. 27 Bailey critically informs any discussion of the necessity defense. There, inmates escaped from the District of Columbia jail. In their escape trial, the inmates claimed dangerous prison conditions prompted and necessitated their escape. The district court refused their evidence of poor prison conditions and refused to instruct the jury on necessity, foreclosing the claimed defense. It did so because in the one to three and one-half months they were on the lam the inmates made no credible attempt to surrender to authorities. The Supreme Court upheld the district court, saying: 28 We therefore hold that, where a criminal defendant is charged with escape and claims that he is entitled to an instruction on the theory of duress or necessity, he must proffer evidence of a bona fide effort to surrender or return to custody as soon as the claimed duress or necessity had lost its coercive force. We have reviewed the evidence examined elaborately in the majority and dissenting opinions below, and find the case not even close, even under respondents' versions of the facts, as to whether they either surrendered or offered to surrender at their earliest possible opportunity. Since we have determined that this is an indispensable element of the defense of duress or necessity, respondents were not entitled to any instruction on such a theory. 29 Bailey, 444 U.S. at 415, 100 S.Ct. 624. 30 Bailey is congruent with this case and its reasoning is compelling. In the case against Bailey and the other escapees, the government was required to prove (1) that they had been in the custody of the Attorney General, (2) as the result of a conviction, and (3) that they had escaped from that custody. Id. at 407, 100 S.Ct. 624. Here the government had to prove (1) Al-Rekabi knowingly possessed the pistol, (2) the pistol was stolen when he possessed it, and (3) he knew or had reasonable cause to believe it was stolen. 18 U.S.C. § 922(j). Both escape and possession of a stolen firearm are general intent crimes. Escape is a continuing offense. Bailey, 444 U.S. at 413, 100 S.Ct. 624. A violation of § 922(j) continues so long as the defendant knowingly possesses (actually or constructively) a firearm he knows to be stolen. Given the similarity of the elements of the crimes here and in Bailey, the defense of necessity should be measured by the same yardstick. For his necessity defense to fly, Al-Rekabi should have caused the pistol to be turned over to the police promptly after he divested his brother of it. At the very minimum he must have demonstrated a good faith attempt to do so. He made no such showing. It is, again, much like Bailey where the trial court consistently stressed that, to sustain their defenses, respondents would have to introduce some evidence that they attempted to surrender or engaged in equivalent conduct once they had freed themselves from the conditions they described. But the court waited for such evidence in vain. Id. at 399, 100 S.Ct. 624. 31 A claim of necessity may be little more than an ex-post attempt by defense counsel to exculpate a client. Such a claim is easily made and so must be factually justified. Vague and necessarily self-serving statements of defendants or witnesses as to future good intentions or ambiguous conduct simply do not support a finding of this element of the defense. Id. at 415, 100 S.Ct. 624. Demanding a prompt and appropriate remedial response to the claimed necessity is a legitimate precondition to recognizing the defense and is also a useful tool in measuring the bona fides of a claimant. The evidence does not suggest the lack of a reasonable legal alternative. If it had, Al-Rekabi's response was not measured and reasonable as the necessity defense requires. The district judge properly exercised her gate-keeping responsibilities. The first part of the necessity test was not met. Neither was the second. 32 The defendant must show an imminent danger—a real risk of death or serious bodily injury. A twelve year-old boy possessing a loaded pistol is potentially very dangerous, but the danger in this case was not clearly imminent. Hussein had already stolen the weapon, transported it to an abandoned house, hid it in a heater vent, later retrieved it and was carrying it in his waistband at the time he was accosted by Al-Rekabi. 11 There is no evidence Hussein was handling the weapon in a reckless manner by pointing it at someone or attempting to discharge it. The trial judge remarked: There's no evidence such as that he had it cocked to his head, that he was not able to understand the English language, et cetera. (R. Supp. Vol. I at 4.) The evidence did not even establish the pistol was loaded. 12 That is not necessarily telling because Al-Rekabi was justified in considering it to be loaded. But his account of his response to the claimed emergency is telling. Upon discovering Hussein with the pistol he immediately started slapping and kicking his brother (who still had the pistol). He made no attempt to disarm Hussein (who, apparently, had the pistol and the two magazines in his waist band), to determine whether the pistol was loaded or to make the pistol safe by removing any magazine from it. His acts are simply not consistent with an imminent threat. 13 He stashed the pistol or had others do so. 14 That brings us to the final factor. 33 Even assuming Al-Rekabi presented sufficient evidence to establish he had no reasonable legal alternative to possessing the pistol and the danger was imminent, he failed to establish his actions were reasonably calculated to prevent the harm posed by the circumstances. Here again, Al-Rekabi's failure to report or return the pistol haunts him. Among other problems with Al-Rekabi's response to the crisis, the failure to report the pistol to the police undermines Al-Rekabi's claim that he was simply acting in his brother's best interest or the public's. Of course, the nature of the appropriate corrective action will depend on the nature of the underlying offense. In our view, someone who takes it upon himself to knowingly possess a stolen weapon in violation of § 922(j), even if justified by the circumstances, is required to render it safe and turn the it over to the police or, if a convicted felon, report the incident to his parole officer. In any event he is required to act promptly. Removing the handgun from his brother and then either keeping it or turning it over to Whitfield were not actions reasonably calculated to prevent the anticipated harm. See United States v. Mason, 233 F.3d 619, 624-25 (D.C.Cir.2001) (defense instruction warranted when a delivery man, who was a convicted felon, picked up a handgun left near a school in order to turn it over to a police officer he encountered on his regular route). 34 Because Al-Rekabi presented no such evidence, opportunity's door did not open. If events actually transpired as Al-Rekabi described them and he had given up his control over the pistol by securing it and alerting the police, it is unlikely he would even have been charged. His post hoc claims of innocent possession are unavailing in light of his conduct
35 As for Al-Rekabi's other asserted defense, we have discussed but never applied a fleeting possession defense. 15 This is largely because it is redundant to the necessity defense. 16 Both defenses, as we have said, require the defendant to prove no reasonable legal alternative was available to him given the circumstances. 17 It is true that we have acknowledged the possibility of a fleeting possession defense on two occasions. See Adkins, 196 F.3d at 1115; Williams, 403 F.3d at 1196. In neither case was it adopted. In both cases the discussion of fleeting possession served merely to emphasize that a defendant's justification for violating the law lasts only as long as the circumstances giving rise to it. Consider United States v. Panter, 688 F.2d 268 (5th Cir.1982), one of the principle cases relied upon by Adkins. 196 F.3d at 115. There, the Fifth Circuit held the defendant, a former felon, who reached under a bar to grab a handgun to fend off a convicted murderer who was assailing him by stabbing him in the abdomen was justified in doing so. 688 F.2d at 269, 272. Based on our precedent, such conduct, if adequately established, would clearly fall under the necessity defense, as it did in Panter itself. 688 F.2d at 272 n. 7 (discussing the differences between a self-defense and necessity justification and concluding defendant met both). Panter's discussion of the temporary nature of the defendant's otherwise illegal possession of the firearm was tied to the necessity defense. The court pointed out that our holding protects a . . . defendant only for possession during the time he is endangered. Possession either before the danger or for any significant period after it remains a violation. Id. at 272. We find Panter's discussion of the temporary nature of the necessity defense in accord with our own view. Thus, failing to establish a necessity defense, Al-Rekabi is out of justifications.