United States v. Messerlian

On July 30, 1982, Joseph P. Topolosky parked his van on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Another vehicle hit Topolosky’s parked van. The driver of the other vehicle approached Topolosky’s van and noticed that Topolosky was drunk. Police officers, including New Jersey State Trooper Harry H. Messerlian (defendant), arrived on the scene of the accident. Messerlian smelled alcohol on Topolosky’s breath and arrested him, placing him in a police car. Topolosky kicked a window out of the police car, and Messerlian responded by hitting Topolosky multiple times in the head and neck with a flashlight, killing him. Messerlian was charged with depriving Topolosky of his constitutional rights to liberty and personal security without due process of law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242. At trial, the district court provided jury instructions explaining that to convict Messerlian, the jury needed to find that Messerlian had willingly committed an unlawful action that deprived Topolosky of his constitutional rights. The instructions further explained that the jury could find that Messerlian had acted with the requisite specific intent to deprive Topolosky of his constitutional rights even if Messerlian did not know about the particular constitutional rights involved. The jury convicted Messerlian of violating § 242. Messerlian appealed, arguing that the jury instructions incorrectly explained the specific intent required under § 242. Messerlian argued that under the district court’s instructions, the jury could him guilty by merely determining that he had used excessive force on Topolosky. Messerlian argued that the instructions should have told the jury that to convict Messerlian, it needed to find that he had intended to punish Topolosky.