United States v. Holly
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
488 F.3d 1298 (10th Cir. 2007)
Melvin Holly (defendant), a county sheriff, was charged with felony deprivation of rights under color of law for raping or attempting to rape five female jail inmates, based on aggravated sexual abuse under federal law. All five women said Holly kept his gun visible during the assaults and feared he would harm them if they resisted, though he explicitly threatened only Amber Helmert, telling her he would get to her nine-year-old sister and the rest of her family; Helmert fought him off. The trial judge rejected Holly's request to instruct the jury using only the aggravated-sexual-abuse statute's exact language, instead allowing conviction based on a broader implied fear of some bodily harm inferred from a power disparity. The jury convicted Holly on all five counts, and he appealed.
Whether a jury instruction that allows conviction for aggravated sexual abuse based on an implied fear of some bodily harm, rather than the statute's specific fear of death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping to any person, requires reversal of a conviction supported by overwhelming evidence of the correct fear element.