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Writ of Mandamus issues when District Court refuses to instruct jury on all elements of charged offense.

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

While reiterating its general rule that mandamus is ?a drastic remedy that is seldom issued and its use is discouraged,? the Third Circuit nevertheless found ?the kind of extraordinary situation in which we are empowered to issue the writ of mandamus,? in United States v. Higden, No. 10-3882 (March 17, 2011). Defendant was tried for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1), which has three elements: (1) that defendant possessed a firearm; 2) that defendant was a convicted felon; and 3) that the firearm had traveled in interstate commerce. Before trial, Defendant and the Government stipulated that Defendant had satisfied the last two of those three elements, and that the jury should be informed of that stipulation. The District Court refused to permit the Government to mention the stipulation during voir dire, and instructed the jury without mentioning either the convicted felony or interstate commerce elements of the charge...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on March 28, 2011 (boomark / email).