United States v. Epskamp
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
832 F.3d 154 (2016)
Epskamp (defendant), a Dutch citizen, was one of two couriers hired to escort suitcases of cocaine aboard a chartered plane from the Dominican Republic to Belgium. After police searched an earlier plane and found nothing, the couriers switched to a different aircraft owned by an American company, which happened to bear a U.S. registration number, unbeknownst to Epskamp’s awareness of that detail being contested. He was prosecuted under 21 U.S.C. Section 959(b), which applies to anyone aboard a U.S.-registered aircraft possessing drugs with intent to distribute. Epskamp argued the court lacked jurisdiction because there was no proof he knew the plane was U.S.-registered when he boarded.
Whether a defendant must have known that his conduct satisfied the jurisdictional element of the statute he is accused of violating.