United States v. Garrett
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
984 F.2d 1402 (1993)
Regina Garrett (defendant) tried to board a flight with a loaded handgun in her purse, which airport security discovered on an x-ray scanner. Garrett said she had forgotten the gun was in the bag. She was charged under a federal aviation statute, § 1472(l)(1), which carried up to a $10,000 fine and one year in prison but said nothing about intent. At her bench trial, evidence showed she was a frequent flyer who knew guns were illegal past security, and that large warning signs were posted at the checkpoint. The magistrate convicted her under a should-have-known standard. Garrett appealed, arguing the government had to prove she actually knew the gun was there; the government argued the statute imposed strict liability.
Whether there is a rebuttable presumption that Congress intended to include a mens rea requirement in a federal criminal statute even when the statute's text does not mention intent.