United States v. Williams

722 F. Supp. 2d 1313, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78781, 2010 WL 2730581
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 1, 2010
Docket4:09-mj-00008
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 722 F. Supp. 2d 1313 (United States v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Williams, 722 F. Supp. 2d 1313, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78781, 2010 WL 2730581 (M.D. Ga. 2010).

Opinion

SANDS, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant DWAIN D. WILLIAMS’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment. (Doc. 37). For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. 37) is DENIED.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In July 2009, a Middle District of Georgia grand jury returned a two-count Indictment charging Defendant with, in Count One, aggravated sexual abuse of a child (18 U.S.C. § 2241(c)) and, in Count Two, abusive sexual contact with a child (18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(1) and (5)). (Doc. 1). The Indictment states that the alleged crimes occurred in and around Okinawa, Japan, while Defendant, a United States citizen, was accompanying a member of the United States Armed Forces outside of the United States, and that the United States’s extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction is permitted by the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000, 18 U.S.C. § 3261. (Id.).

Following Defendant’s arrest, the Court appointed the Federal Defender to represent Defendant. (Doc. 11). On November 5, 2009, Defendant filed the instant Motion to Dismiss Indictment. (Doc. 37). An Addendum thereto was filed on November 8, 2009. (Doc. 38). Following the Court’s granting of an extension of time to respond (Doc. 40) and an extension of page length (Doc. 43), the Government filed its Memorandum in Opposition on December 11, 2009. (Doc.41).

The grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment in May 2010, charging three *1315 counts against Defendant. (Doc. 57). Count One charges Defendant with travel-ling in foreign commerce from the United States to Japan and engaging in illicit sexual conduct (18 U.S.C. § 2423(c) and (e) i/c/w 18 U.S.C. § 2243(a)(1) and (2)). (Id. at ¶¶3-4). Count Two renews and expounds upon Count One of the original Indictment, charging a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c), and expressly states the alleged facts that the Government contends provide for extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. (Id. at ¶¶ 5-8). Count Three likewise renews and expounds upon Count Two of the original Indictment, charging a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(1) and (5), and makes the same express statement of facts allegedly establishing the United States’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. (Id. at ¶¶ 9-12).

On June 25, 2010, Defendant filed a Notice to Renew Defendant’s Motion, stating that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. 37) is renewed as it relates to the Superseding Indictment (Doc. 57). (Doc. 66).

FACTUAL SUMMARY 1

In summary, the Superseding Indictment alleges that Defendant is an American citizen who, after having traveled in foreign commerce to Japan, engaged in and attempted to engage in sexual acts and caused sexual contact with a female child there from mid-2004 to mid-2007 or mid-2008. Defendant was allegedly in Japan while accompanying and residing with his wife, who was stationed in Japan with the United States Air Force. The female child described in the Superseding Indictment is allegedly Defendant’s step-daughter.

In July 2008, Defendant’s family allegedly returned to Lanier County, Georgia, due to Defendant’s wife’s alleged reassignment to Moody Air Force Base. Sometime thereafter, Defendant’s step-daughter allegedly moved in with her grandmother in Pelham, Georgia. These locations are in the Middle District of Georgia.

The alleged sexual acts allegedly occurred in secrecy in Japan. Defendant’s wife allegedly came to know of the alleged sexual acts after Defendant’s step-daughter allegedly attempted suicide at her grandmother’s residence in Pelham, Georgia, on May 16, 2009. Defendant was allegedly working in Afghanistan on that date.

Following the grand jury’s return of the original Indictment (Doc. 1) on July 14, 2009, an arrest warrant (Doc. 3) issued on the same date. Defendant surrendered to authorities and was arrested in Mitchell County, Georgia (see Doc. 9 at 1), which is located in the Middle District of Georgia.

DISCUSSION

Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. 37), Addendum thereto (Doc. 38), and Notice thereto (Doc. 66) combine to attack the constitutionality of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 (“MEJA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3261. According to its legislative history, the MEJA “establish[es] Federal jurisdiction over offenses committed outside the United States by persons employed by or accompanying the Armed Forces.” H.R.Rep. No. 106-778, pt. 1, at 1 (2000). 2 *1316 The Superseding Indictment states that the MEJA is the jurisdictional basis for the acts alleged to have occurred in Japan in Counts Two and Three. (Doc. 57 at ¶¶ 5-12). Defendant asserts that because the MEJA is unconstitutional both facially and as applied, the Superseding Indictment (Doc. 57) should be dismissed.

Before delving into Defendant’s argument, the Court must address a disconnect between Defendant’s Motion (Docs. 37, 38, 66) and the Superseding Indictment (Doc. 57). While Counts Two and Three expressly rely upon the MEJA for jurisdiction (see Doc. 57 at ¶¶ 5-12), Count One of the Superseding Indictment — the Count not found in the original Indictment (compare Doc. 1 with Doc. 57) — does not appear to use the MEJA as its jurisdictional basis but rather appears to rest on the jurisdictional hook contained in the predicate criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c) and (e). (Doc. 57 at ¶¶ 3-4). Defendant’s Motion (Docs. 37, 38, 66) is silent as to § 2423, and thus seems to concede that Count One is proper and should not be dismissed. (See generally Docs. 37, 38, 66). 3 However, given the applicability of Defendant’s Sixth Amendment compulsory process and venue arguments to § 2423, the Court will analyze Count One in light of Defendant’s Sixth Amendment arguments.

Defendant asserts three grounds for the unconstitutionality of the MEJA, two of which the Court will also apply to 18 U.S.C. § 2423. First, applied only to the MEJA, Defendant argues that Congress improperly extended beyond its enumerated powers in enacting the MEJA. (Doc. 37 at 6-7; Doc. 38 at 1-5).

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Bluebook (online)
722 F. Supp. 2d 1313, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78781, 2010 WL 2730581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-williams-gamd-2010.