Filed: Sep. 03, 2008
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED _ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 08-11786 SEPT 3, 2008 Non-Argument Calendar THOMAS K. KAHN _ CLERK D. C. Docket No. 06-00457-CR-5-UWC-HGD UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JULIAN B. BURNETT, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama _ (September 3, 2008) Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Ju
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED _ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 08-11786 SEPT 3, 2008 Non-Argument Calendar THOMAS K. KAHN _ CLERK D. C. Docket No. 06-00457-CR-5-UWC-HGD UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JULIAN B. BURNETT, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama _ (September 3, 2008) Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Jul..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-11786 SEPT 3, 2008
Non-Argument Calendar THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________ CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 06-00457-CR-5-UWC-HGD
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JULIAN B. BURNETT,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
_________________________
(September 3, 2008)
Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Julian B. Burnett appeals from his conviction for public lewdness on federal
property, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 668dd and 50 C.F.R. § 27.83, following a jury
trial before a magistrate judge.1 He argues that the magistrate judge’s instruction
to the jury -- that the requirement that the lewd conduct would offend or alarm
means that the “conduct would offend or alarm the observer of the conduct or
anyone else who was likely to observe the conduct” -- was over-broad in that it
used an objective rather than a subjective test, even though the actual observer of
Burnett’s conduct was an undercover operative who was present at the refuge to
observe precisely such conduct. After careful review, we affirm.
We review the legal correctness of a jury instruction de novo. United States
v. Prather,
205 F.3d 1265, 1270 (11th Cir. 2000). We review alleged errors in a
jury instruction to determine whether the court’s charge, considered as a whole,
sufficiently instructed the jury so that the jurors understood the issues involved and
were not misled. United States v. Shores,
966 F.2d 1383, 1386 (11th Cir. 1992)
(internal quotations omitted). If the instructions accurately reflect the law, we give
the trial judge wide discretion in determining the style and wording of the
instructions. United States v. Trujillo,
146 F.3d 838, 846 (11th Cir. 1998).
Congress authorized the Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, to administer the National Wildlife Refuge System “for the
1
Burnett consented at his arraignment to trial before a magistrate judge, pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 636(c). Although he moved to withdraw that consent, the district court denied his
motion.
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benefit of present and future generations of Americans.” 16 U.S.C. § 668dd(a)(1)-
(2). Pursuant to this authority, the Secretary promulgated regulations governing
the National Wildlife Refuge System, one of which prohibits visitors from
performing “[a]ny act of indecency or disorderly conduct as defined by State or
local laws . . . on any national wildlife refuge.” 50 C.F.R. § 27.83. Burnett was
convicted of public lewdness while on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in
Decatur, Alabama, in violation of this regulation.
The Alabama Code states that an individual commits the offense of public
lewdness if:
(1) He exposes his anus or genitals in a public place and is reckless
about whether another may be present who will be offended or
alarmed by this act; or
(2) He does any lewd act in a public place which he knows is likely to
be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed.
Ala. Code § 13A-12-130(a)(1), (2) (1975) (emphases added).
We find no merit to Burnett’s challenge to the jury instruction. The
language used by the magistrate judge in the instruction -- including “anyone else
who was likely to observe the conduct” -- adequately denoted the meaning of the
Alabama law on public lewdness, see
id., so as not to mislead the jury. See
Shores,
966 F.2d at 1386. Indeed, the jury heard the undercover operative who observed
Burnett’s conduct testify about the incident. The officer said that while he was
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conducting observation at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Burnett stopped
approximately a foot and a half from him, had a brief, “general conversation” with
him, and then grew silent for approximately 10 seconds before unzipping his pants,
exposing his penis, masturbating, and asking the officer to perform oral sex on
him. The officer further testified that the incident was “upsetting.” Thus, under
either the magistrate’s wording, or that of the Alabama statute, the trial testimony
established the offense of public lewdness.
Moreover, while Burnett argues that the commentary to Ala. Code §
13A-6-68 suggests that only a subjective test should be applied to indecent
exposure and other offenses in chapter 6, that commentary expressly differentiates
the crime of indecent exposure from that of public lewdness, as the offense of
public lewdness is itself contained in chapter 12, concerning “Offenses Against
Public Health and Morals.” See Ala. Code § 13A-12-130 (1975). For these
reasons, the magistrate judge did not err in instructing the jury.
AFFIRMED.
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