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John Murtha — Part 19
Page 368
368 / 419
AO 72A
(Rev. 8/82)
retaliate.” Snelenberger is unhelpful, however, because of the limited argument that the
defendant made in that case. Defendant had communicated his threat to kill an administrative
law judge in the context of a conversation he was having with a psychotherapist, id. at 801, and
contended that § 115(a)(1)(B) would be constitutionally overbroad absent an intent that the
therapist communicate the threat, id. at 803. “His theory [was] that discussion between a
therapist and patient is akin to writing personal thoughts in a diary.” Id. The court rejected that
argument, however, holding first that the issue was waived in the district court,"° id. at 803, and
second, that because he had uttered the same threat to an orderly who was transporting him, see
id. at 801, his “‘diary’ analogy [was] inappropriate.” Id. at 803. Snelenberger’s
pronouncement, then, is nothing more than unclear dictum which provides no doctrinal
roadmap on intent to retaliate.
The more substantial of the government’s arguments is that, under Patillo, a present
The analysis the court did provide is somewhat cryptic:
The [district] court analyzed the statutory language in response to Snelenberger's
request. The court held that the first part of § 115(a)(1)(B), which states that it is
a crime for someone to threaten a judge "with intent to impede, intimidate, or
interfere with such ... judge ... while engaged in the performance of official
duties", requires that the threat-maker intend that the threat be communicated to
the judge because the threat-maker wanted to influence the judge's action. The
court held that the second part of the statute merely states that the threat be made
with the intent to retaliate against the judge after the judge had acted. The court
held that it was not required that the threat-maker intend that the threat should be
communicated to the judge. Since Snelenberger's action fell within the second
part of the statute, there was no need for an instruction such as he requested. We
hold that the court's reading of the statute was entirely justified.
24 F.3d at 803.
10
The court did not consider whether, notwithstanding defendant’s waiver, there was plain
error in the district court’s ruling.
16
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