Filed: Oct. 16, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 16 2015 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-10397 Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:11-cr-00697-CRB-1 v. MEMORANDUM* RODERICK HAROLD BOLDS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Charles R. Breyer, Senior District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted September 18, 2015 San Francisco, California Before: CHR
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 16 2015 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-10397 Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:11-cr-00697-CRB-1 v. MEMORANDUM* RODERICK HAROLD BOLDS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Charles R. Breyer, Senior District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted September 18, 2015 San Francisco, California Before: CHRI..
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FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
OCT 16 2015
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-10397
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:11-cr-00697-CRB-1
v.
MEMORANDUM*
RODERICK HAROLD BOLDS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Charles R. Breyer, Senior District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted September 18, 2015
San Francisco, California
Before: CHRISTEN and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges, and LEMELLE,** Senior
District Judge.
Roderick Bolds appeals his conviction on one count of sex trafficking of a
minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591, and one count of transportation of a minor
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Ivan L.R. Lemelle, Senior District Judge for the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, sitting by designation.
with the intent that she engage in prostitution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm in part and reverse in
part.
1. We reverse Bolds’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1591 because the
indictment was constructively amended when the jury was instructed that the
government need not prove Bolds knew Sara G. was younger than 18 years of age
if it proved Bolds had a reasonable opportunity to observe her. The indictment
alleged only that Bolds acted with knowledge or reckless disregard as to Sara G.’s
age. Whether Bolds had a reasonable opportunity to observe Sara G. is a distinct
theory of culpability with respect to her age. See United States v. Robinson,
702
F.3d 22, 32 (2d Cir. 2012); see also Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015,
Pub. L. No. 114-22, § 108, 129 Stat. 227, 239 (2015) (amending § 1591(c) to
clarify that proof of reasonable opportunity to observe obviates need to prove
knowledge or reckless disregard).
Because we do not know which instructions the jury relied on when it
convicted Bolds, and because it is impossible to know whether the grand jury
would have charged Bolds on the “reasonable opportunity to observe” theory, the
jury instructions constructively amended the indictment. See United States v. Hui
Hsiung,
778 F.3d 738, 757 (9th Cir. 2015), cert. denied,
135 S. Ct. 2837 (2015);
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United States v. Ward,
747 F.3d 1184, 1191 (9th Cir. 2014). We therefore reverse
Bolds’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1591. See
Ward, 747 F.3d at 1193.
2. Because we reverse Bolds’s conviction under § 1591, we do not reach
his argument that the phrase “reasonable opportunity to observe” is
unconstitutionally vague.
3. The district court correctly instructed the jury that it did not need to
find Bolds knew Sara G. was younger than 18 years of age to convict him under 18
U.S.C. § 2423. United States v. Taylor,
239 F.3d 994, 997 (9th Cir. 2001). The
Supreme Court’s decision in Flores-Figueroa v. United States,
556 U.S. 646
(2009), which addressed the knowledge requirement of aggravated identity theft
under 18 U.S.C. § 1028(A)(1), is not clearly irreconcilable with our holding in
Taylor. See Miller v. Gammie,
335 F.3d 889, 900 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc);
Flores-Figueroa, 556 U.S. at 660 (Alito, J., concurring in part) (citing § 2423 and
explaining that context may rebut the presumption that a specified mens rea applies
to all elements of an offense).
4. The district court did not abuse its discretion by permitting the
government’s expert, Detective Derek Stigerts, to testify under Federal Rule of
Evidence 702. Further, the expert’s testimony did not violate the Confrontation
Clause. The expert “distilled and synthesized what he had learned through his
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experience” and did not provide testimonial hearsay. See United States v. Vera,
770 F.3d 1232, 1239 (9th Cir. 2014).
5. The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
4