Violation of due process

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Micah Stern v. Michael Meisner

Case No: 15-2558

Officials: BAUER, ROVNER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Violation of due process

Prisoner convicted of sex crime against a child appeals conviction alleging the court’s interpretation of the belief and intent elements of the statue violated his due process right by depriving him of fair notice of the elements.

“Stern argues that the statutory framework requires a jury to still find an adult who believed he was communicating with an adult guilty. But, as the district court noted, this result would never happen. If the jury is convinced of the defendant’s credibility and believes the adult defendant was communicating with a consenting adult, then the jury would be precluded from finding the defendant guilty. But, such a scenario is not Stern’s. The undercover officer posed as a 14‐year‐old boy. Stern had reason to believe Peter was 14 years old based upon all of the information provided to Stern by Peter. Based on the evidence, the jury found Stern had the intent to have sexual contact with someone he objectively had reason to believe was 14 years old.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.