By: Derek Hawkins//June 23, 2020//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: United States of America v. Maurice A. Withers
Case No.: 17-3448
Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Jury Instructions
Maurice Withers made a living trafficking women and girls for sex. After months of abuse, numerous victims were identified by law enforcement. Withers was arrested and charged with nine counts of sex trafficking.
As the case proceeded to trial, the government proposed jury instructions on four of those counts that would have allowed Withers to be found guilty if he either knew or recklessly disregarded that force, threats of force, or coercion would be used to cause the women to engage in commercial sex acts. The “recklessly disregarded” mens rea element was absent, however, from the superseding indictment against Withers. The district court ruled, and the parties agreed, that the jury instructions would not include that phrase. Yet at trial the court’s instructions included this phrase, and neither the court nor the parties recognized the error. A jury found Withers guilty on all counts.
On appeal Withers challenges the four convictions that included the inaccurate instructions, arguing the jury was improperly allowed to consider a lesser mental state. While we agree those instructions were plainly wrong, we conclude that the error did not affect Withers’ substantial rights or otherwise prejudice his trial, so we affirm.
Affirmed