Public Defense

Syed Hasan was convicted of a number of crimes in connection with his successful scheme to kidnap his infant son and spirit the child off to India. He appealed on a number of grounds. This long opinion covers little new ground, but closes one open question.

In preparation for the kidnapping, Hasan applied for a passport for the child. In the application, he falsely gave his brother's address in South Carolina as the child?s home address . In fact, the child lived in Brooklyn. On appeal, Hasan challenged his passport fraud conviction, arguing that the South Carolina address was not a ?material misstatement.?

The circuit affirmed. It looked at the text of the statute, which makes it a crime to ?willfully and knowingly make[] any false statement in an application for a passport,? and concluded that ?the statute plainly does not require that the false statement be material.?

Full post as published by Second Circuit Blog on November 14, 2009 (boomark / email).