specific-intent
56 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-5907 | Cory Collin Fitzgerald Sanders v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2025-10-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure evidence-inference guilty-knowledge jury-instruction specific-intent willful-intent | In a federal criminal prosecution that requires proof of specific intent, may a court instruct the jury that it may infer willful intent or guilty kno… |
| 25-5685 | Anthony Lemicy v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2025-09-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | child-exploitation constitutional-violation criminal-procedure evidentiary-sufficiency specific-intent statutory-interpretation | I. CAN THE GOVERNMENT PROVE THE SPECIFIC INTENT OF "USE" "FOR THE PURPOSE" WITHOUT THE MINORS TESTIFYING(direct evidence), OR CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE… |
| 25-5680 | David Petersen v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2025-09-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | actus-reus aiding-and-abetting circuit-split constitutional-rights mens-rea specific-intent | 1. Whether the mens rea and actus reus requirements for aiding and abetting liability under 18 U.S.C. § 2 demand proof of specific intent and affirma… |
| 25-5664 | In Re Amy Bishop Anderson | 2025-09-17 | Denied | Relisted (2)IFP | constitutional-error habeas-corpus new-evidence procedural-default specific-intent steroid-psychosis | 1. ) Statement of the Case and exhaustion of claims pursuant to 28USC section 2254(b)(1)(A) as delineated in S.Ct. Rule 20.4(a). Where, in my petition… | |
| 25A294 | Vincent Gerald Garcia v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-09-15 | Presumed Complete | conspiracy-to-commit criminal-conspiracy racketeering rico-conspiracy specific-intent statutory-interpretation | Question not identified. | |
| 25-5563 | Joseph Lee Smith v. Louisiana | Louisiana | 2025-09-05 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-review manslaughter post-trial-motions sentencing specific-intent writ-application | WHETHER THE LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED PETITIONER'S WRIT APPLICATION FILED ON DIRECT APPEAL AND THE CLAIM THAT PETITIONER POSSESSE… |
| 24-7487 | Nicholas Noelani D. Smith v. Alabama | Alabama | 2025-06-24 | Denied | IFP | capital-murder due-process fourteenth-amendment lesser-included-offenses specific-intent voluntary-intoxication | Whether a criminal defendant in a capital trial is deprived of his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, as set forth in Beck v. Alabama, when th… |
| 24-6822 | Jorge Almeida v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections | Eleventh Circuit | 2025-03-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | due-process ineffective-assistance insanity-defense mens-rea mental-disease specific-intent | I. Almeida received Ineffective Assistance of Counsel as a result of his trial counsel's strategy of conceding guilt to lesser included offenses inste… |
| 24-6465 | Leslie Robert Burk v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2025-02-04 | Denied | IFP | 18-USC-1343 18-USC-1349 commercial-contract contract-law specific-intent wire-fraud | 1. Whether the wire-fraud statutes criminalize a deceptive statement that induces an ordinary commercial contract that the party who made the statemen… |
| 23-6109 | Tou Thao v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2023-11-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-242 civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-procedure deprivation-of-rights due-process fair-trial prosecutorial-misconduct specific-intent willfulness | The Petitioner was convicted of two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury and death in connection with the dea… |
| 23-5374 | Jessie C. Roberts v. Danny Samuel | Ninth Circuit | 2023-08-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | competency criminal-procedure delusions hallucinations incompetency ineffective-assistance mental-health specific-intent | Whether a trial counsel whose client has been found incompetent to stand trial three different times prior to trial provides ineffective assistance of… |
| 23-5195 | Cynthia Kaye Wood v. Texas | Texas | 2023-07-25 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-rights criminal-intent criminal-procedure due-process guilty-plea habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance mens-rea specific-intent voluntary-plea | In Texas, the ens rea for attempted capital murder is a specific intent to kill. The defendant did not know this. Thus, she pled guilty although she h… |
| 22-1203 | Alan Patrick Fowler v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division | Fifth Circuit | 2023-06-13 | Denied | confrontation-clause confrontation-right constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-sentencing due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mens-rea mental-health sentencing specific-intent | 1) Could reasonable jurists disagree on whether there is insufficient evidence of specific intent to commit murder where Fowler never shot at a person… | |
| 22-542 | Tavaris Betts v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2022-12-14 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | armed-career-criminal-act burglary circuit-split criminal-sentencing generic-burglary intent-requirement specific-intent statutory-interpretation | Whether a State's no-intent burglary statute qualifies as generic burglary under the Armed Career Criminal Act. |
| 21-7994 | Vincent James Sanchez, aka Vincent Sanches, aka Enrique Sanchez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2022-05-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | borden-v-united-states circuit-split criminal-law elements-clause mens-rea reckless-crimes specific-intent statutory-interpretation | Does Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021), mean that the elements clause requires the specific intent to use, attempt to use, or threaten t… |
| 21-7530 | Paul M. Weadick v. United States | First Circuit | 2022-04-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-1512 circuit-split criminal-procedure federal-statute federal-witness-tampering fowler-v-united-states reasonable-likelihood specific-intent statutory-interpretation witness-tampering | The federal witness tampering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1512, permits conviction of any individual who "prevent[s] the communication by any person to a [Fe… |
| 21-6908 | Jessie Flores v. Brian Cates, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2022-01-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | competence-to-stand-trial competency-to-stand-trial criminal-procedure ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mental-health-defense mental-state-defense psychosis specific-intent substance-abuse willful-deliberate-and-premeditated-murder | Does defense counsel unreasonably fail to investigate and present a mental state defense to a charge of willful, deliberate and premeditated murder wh… |
| 21-6737 | James P. Donoghue, et ux. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | First Circuit | 2021-12-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | general-intent judicial-oath judicial-regulation judicial-remand judicial-review objective-review perjury specific-intent statutory-interpretation tax-court | 1. Pursuant to 26 C.F.R. § 1.183, whether the lower courts' errored when framing decision under the doctrine of general-intent; using subjective deduc… |
| 21-6202 | Charles Gregory Clark v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-11-09 | Denied | IFP | capital-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel martinez-rule martinez-v-ryan shackling shackling-claim specific-intent strickland-standard strickland-v-washington | The trial court required Charles Gregory Clark to be visibly restrained during his entire capital murder trial, without a hearing and making no requis… |
| 21-6020 | Said Azzam Mohamad Rahim v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2021-10-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | apprendi-v-new-jersey circuit-split criminal-law criminal-sentencing due-process sentencing-guidelines specific-intent statutory-interpretation terrorism-enhancement | Question 1: This Court should resolve the circuit split that has developed by finding that the twelve-level terrorism enhancement under U.S.S.G. §3A1.… |
| 21-579 | Kenneth Eugene Smith v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-10-20 | Denied | accomplice-liability burden-of-proof capital-sentencing constitutional-rights due-process eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-instructions jury-trial sixth-amendment specific-intent | 1. Under Waddington v. Sar ausad, 555 U.S. 179 (2009), when a conviction requires that the State prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant ha… | |
| 21-5853 | Noah Gaston v. Maine | Maine | 2021-10-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-culpability due-process fourteenth-amendment general-intent intent mens-rea murder murder-statute specific-intent | 1. Does Maine's murder statute violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because it does not require the state to prove beyon… |
| 21-5551 | Floyd Flugence v. Darrel Vannoy, Warden | Fifth Circuit | 2021-09-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process intent jury-evidence louisiana second-degree-murder specific-intent sufficiency-of-evidence | 1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support, the finding of guilt, in accordance with La. R.S. 14:30.1 (Second Degree Murder) where there was no… |
| 20-8184 | Ronald Centeno v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-06-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924c 5th-amendment 6th-amendment constructive-amendment mens-rea specific-intent | I. Whether it is a violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to submit aiding and abetting to the jury when aiding and abetting is not charged in th… |
| 20-7701 | Samuel Alex Gann v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2021-04-09 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | armed-career-criminal-act burglary burglary-statute circuit-split criminal-law criminal-statute sentencing specific-intent statutory-interpretation trespass | An essential element of generic "burglary" is that the person formed the specific intent to commit a crime at some point during the commission of the … |
| 20-7146 | Frank Ray Gallardo v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-02-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-conflict circuit-split criminal-law criminal-statute due-process federal-criminal-law jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea specific-intent statutory-interpretation | Whether a defendant charged with an offense under 18 USC § 2244 is entitled to a specific intent instruction and there is a conflict among Circuits. |
| 20-7109 | Raul Flores-Villalvaso v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-02-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-history criminal-procedure due-process illegal-reentry mens-rea sentencing sentencing-guidelines specific-intent | Whether the 8 U.S.C. § 1326 Attempted Illegal Reentry mens rea element of "specific intent" can be restated as simply "a conscious desire" with no ref… |
| 20-6806 | Troy Merck, Jr. v. Florida | Florida | 2021-01-08 | Denied | IFP | autonomy-defense criminal-defense due-process mccoy-v-louisiana sixth-amendment specific-intent trial-counsel voluntary-intoxication | 1.Whether a defendant's "[a]utonomy to decide that the objective of the defense is to assert innocence." McCoy v. Louisiana , 138 S.Ct. 1500, 1508 (20… |
| 20-6565 | Simon Quinn v. Louisiana | Louisiana | 2020-12-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof criminal-intent criminal-investigation criminal-procedure homicide-investigation obstruction-of-justice reasonable-doubt specific-intent statutory-interpretation underlying-conviction | Reasonable jurist would debate that the State failed to meet its burden of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Quinn is guilty of the offense … |
| 20-6484 | Willie Tyler v. United States | Third Circuit | 2020-12-01 | Denied | IFP | 18-usc-1512 communication-prevention criminal-prosecution federal-jurisdiction federal-statute federal-witness-tampering fowler-v-united-states reasonable-likelihood specific-intent witness-tampering | The federal witness tampering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1512, permits conviction of any individual who "prevent [s] the communication by any person to a [F… |
| 20-6426 | Jose Farias-Valdovinos v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2020-11-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-waiver criminal-procedure factual-basis mens-rea plea-bargaining plea-colloquy rule-11 specific-intent specific-intent-crime | Whether the district court's omission of an independent inquiry into a defendant's mens rea during the Rule 11 plea colloquy for a specific intent cri… |
| 20-5833 | Scott Francis Fortier v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2020-09-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-2251 child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-vagueness mens-rea sexual-conduct sexually-explicit-conduct specific-intent vagueness-doctrine | 1a. Does creating a visual depiction of sexual conduct of a minor need to be the dominan t or specific purpose; one of the dominant or specific purpo… |
| 20-5748 | Dacarius Holliday v. Louisiana | Louisiana | 2020-09-17 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-error criminal-intent criminal-negligence due-process eighth-amendment jury-instructions jury-sentencing specific-intent standard-of-proof trial-court | 1. Can convictions for crimes requiring specific intent create constitutional error where the trial court has ruled that the evidence supports crimina… |
| 19-8828 | Michael Jerald Leggett v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-06-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | attempted-crimes attempted-offense crime-of-violence criminal-law elements-clause hobbs-act specific-intent statutory-interpretation substantial-step violent-crimes | The courts of appeals have universally held that a conviction for a completed offense is categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)… |
| 19-8582 | Brandon Lee Edwards v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-06-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924c3a attempted-offense crime-of-violence elements-clause hobbs-act hobbs-act-robbery james-v-united-states specific-intent substantial-step | The courts of appeals have universally held that a conviction for a completed offense is categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)… |
| 19-8195 | Alens Charles v. Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County, Florida | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-04-06 | Denied | IFP | assault civil-rights-act-of-1991 criminal-law criminal-statute due-process extraterritoriality federal-government federal-officers general-intent specific-intent statute-of-limitations statutory-interpretation | 18 U.S.C. §111 criminalizes "assaulting, or impeding certain victim or" of the federal government. As ED CARNES explained below (and the US District C… |
| 19-7569 | Stanley Noel Ames v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-02-05 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP | 18-usc-924(c) 18-usc-924c bank-robbery carter-v-united-states crime-of-violence criminal-law-procedure federal-bank-robbery force-clause general-intent intent sentencing-standard specific-intent | Did the Ninth Circuit err in holding that federal bank robbery is a crime of violence under the force clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), in light of this C… |
| 19-7100 | Damon Jones v. John E. Wetzel, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al. | Third Circuit | 2019-12-30 | Dismissed | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof constitutional-presumption evidentiary-presumption fourteenth-amendment jury-instructions sixth-amendment specific-intent transferred-intent | In Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 309 (1979), this Court held "(t]he Constitution prohibits the criminal conviction of any person except upon proo… |
| 19-7067 | Michael Baird Jordan v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-12-27 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP | 18-usc-924(c)(3)(a) armed-bank-robbery bank-robbery categorical-approach crime-of-violence elements-clause general-intent intent intimidation physical-force specific-intent statutory-interpretation use-of-force | Given this Court's holding in Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 268 (2000), that bank robbery by intimidation is less culpable than a specific in… |
| 19-5772 | Sergio Saldivar Gutierrez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-08-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | armed-career-criminal-act assault-statute california-penal-code conscious-disregard-of-risk criminal-intent force-clause general-intent physical-force specific-intent statutory-interpretation violent-felony | California state courts have authoritatively construed the state statute punishing assault with a deadly weapon, California Penal Code $ 2a5(a)(1) and… |
| 19-139 | Delmar Hardy v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-07-30 | Denied | cheek-v-united-states criminal-tax good-faith good-faith-reliance jury-instruction jury-instructions professional-reliance reliance-on-accountant specific-intent tax-fraud tax-law tax-professional willfulness | 1. Does this Court's decision in Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991), require a court to apply a subjective standard in determining whether th… | |
| 19-102 | Leroy Baca v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-07-22 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | 18-usc-1503 consciousness-of-wrongdoing constitutional-rights criminal-intent criminal-willfulness jury-anonymity mens-rea obstruction-of-justice public-trial specific-intent | 1. Twenty years ago, the First Circuit stated: "The scienter element in the obstruction statute is the subject of more confusing case law than can be … |
| 18-9687 | Candelario Lucio-Garza v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2019-06-17 | Denied | IFP | attempted-crime attempted-reentry circuit-conflict criminal-law federal-jurisdiction immigration mens-rea specific-intent united-states-v-resendiz-ponce | Does the crime of attempted illegal reentry incorporate the common-law mens rea of a specific intent to commit the completed offense? |
| 18-9440 | Earl Lee Dixie v. Kenneth Harrington, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2019-05-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel intoxication-defense mental-health-defense mental-health-evidence specific-intent strickland-standard strickland-v-washington | Dixie was convicted of evading pursuing police officers based on an incident where he fled from police during a high speed vehicle chase. At trial, Di… |
| 18-8327 | Robert Nathan Alm v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-03-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-2113 18-usc-924(c) 18-usc-924c bank-robbery categorical-approach court-of-appeals criminal-law federal-bank-robbery federal-crime intimidation legal-interpretation specific-intent statutory-construction statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-the-evidence | Can the courts of appeals define the crime of federal bank robbery differently for purposes of a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge than for a cate… |
| 18-8302 | Dominique Dontae Lasker v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-03-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924(c) bank-robbery categorical-approach courts-of-appeals crime-of-violence criminal-law federal-bank-robbery federal-crime intimidation legal-definition specific-intent statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-the-evidence | Can the courts of appeals define the crime of federal bank robbery differently for purposes of a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge than for a cate… |
| 18-8256 | Mustafa Ahmad Naushad v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-03-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-2113 18-usc-924(c) bank-robbery categorical-approach courts-of-appeals criminal-law federal-bank-robbery judicial-discretion legal-definition specific-intent statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-the-evidence violent-physical-force | Can the courts of appeals define the crime of federal bank robbery differently for purposes of a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge than for a cate… |
| 18-8068 | Frankie Hill, Jr. v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-02-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924 18-usc-924(c) bank-robbery categorical-approach circuit-split crime-of-violence criminal-law federal-bank-robbery federal-crime intimidation legal-interpretation specific-intent statutory-construction sufficiency-of-the-evidence | Can the courts of appeals define the crime of federal bank robbery differently for purposes of a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge than for a cate… |
| 18-7838 | William Floyd Moore v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-02-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | armed-career-criminal-act bank-robbery crime-of-violence elements-clause general-intent intimidation specific-intent statutory-interpretation violent-felony | Given this Court's holding in Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 268 (2000), that federal bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) is a general inte… |
| 18-7836 | Michael Travis Moore v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-02-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924(c)(3)(a) 18-usc-924c3a armed-bank-robbery bank-robbery crime-of-violence criminal-law elements-clause federal-crimes general-intent intimidation specific-intent statutory-interpretation | Given this Court's holding in Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 268 (2000), that federal armed bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d) is … |
| 18-7427 | Abdirahman Yasin Daud v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2019-01-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error harmless-error-analysis jury-instruction jury-instructions jury-trial sixth-amendment specific-intent | Whether the Court of Appeals' application of "harmless error" analysis to an erroneous jury instruction regarding the critical, specific intent elemen… |
| 18-7430 | Mohamed Abdihamid Farah v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2019-01-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instructions specific-intent trial-by-jury witness-credibility | 1. WHETHER THE FAILURE TO INCLUDE IN JURY INSTRUCTIONS THE REQUIRED ELEMENT OF SPECIFIC INTENT IS SUBJECT TO HARMLESS ERROR ANALYSIS WHERE THE ELEMENT… |
| 18-7231 | Mark J. Avery v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-01-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure due-process fair-trial good-faith good-faith-defense money-laundering specific-intent trust trustee-liability wire-fraud | Where the defendant, trustee of a private trust charged with wire fraud and money laundering based on his non-disclosure and misspending involving tru… |
| 18-6361 | Bob Lee Jones v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2018-10-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | due-process fair-trial harmless-error hearsay hearsay-exception involuntary-intoxication judicial-bias judicial-ethics present-sense-impression specific-intent standard-of-review | Whether the District Court's demonstration of bias against the defense in violation of the Judge's ethical canons and in front of the jury impeded Mr.… |
| 18-5993 | Douglas Roy Burns v. Connie Horton, Warden | Sixth Circuit | 2018-09-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process evidence jury-instructions mens-rea specific-intent | WHETHER A STATE COURT MUST CONSTITUTIONALLY RECOGNIZE AND ALLOW A DEFENSE IN THE FORM OF TESTIMONY AND OR OTHER RELEVANT EVIDENCE WHICH DISPROVES THE … |
| 18-5036 | Jerome Aristedes Martinez v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2018-06-29 | Denied | IFP | circuit-split criminal-law general-intent illegal-reentry immigration immigration-law mens-rea specific-intent statutory-interpretation supreme-court-precedent | In the United States v. Resendiz-Ponce, 549 U.S. 102 (2007), the Supreme Court made it clear, in dicta, that attempted illegal reentry is a specific i… |