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Church Was an Arson "Victim" under 18 U.S.C. § 1153(a

By Shari Allison

US v. Jane Doe, a female juvenile, and John Doe, a male juvenile, Nos. 08-1137 and 08-1184 (10th Cir. 7/20/09) - arson convictions affirmed. The arson victim, the Ute Mountain Presbyterian Church, constituted a "person" under 18 U.S.C. § 1153(a). The statutory context does not require a "person" to be a living individual. The legislative history supports the conclusion that § 1153's use of "person" applies to living individuals and corporations, but not unincorporated associations. There was sufficient evidence at trial of the corporate ownership of the burned church. District court did not abuse its discretion by permitting the gov't to reopen the case to present evidence concerning church ownership because its failure to establish it earlier was inadvertent and the defense did not suffer substantial prejudice...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on July 22, 2009 (boomark / email).