United States v. Moncini
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
882 F.2d 401 (1989)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Alessandro Moncini (defendant) was an Italian citizen who mailed child-pornography materials from Italy to an undercover officer in the United States. United States law prohibited knowingly mailing child pornography for any reason. Moncini was arrested and tried in a United States federal court for the child-pornography violation. At trial, Moncini claimed that he did not know that his actions were illegal in the United States. Moncini presented evidence that Italy had some restrictions on mailing child pornography, but that Moncini’s act of mailing child pornography to another private individual for private use was legal in Italy. Moncini argued that his lack of knowledge about the act’s illegality meant that he (1) lacked the mens rea needed to be guilty of a crime and (2) had no notice that the law was different in the United States and, therefore, had been denied due process. Moncini was convicted and sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Moncini appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, J.)
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