Abouammo v. United States · ¶17

Contrary to the Ninth Circuit’s view, §1519’s special intent provision does not lead to a different result. This Court has never looked to a statute’s mens rea elements in considering venue. Nor would it make much sense to do so. Take the first (and more typical) of §1519’s mens rea requirements: that the falsification be undertaken “knowingly.” A knowing falsification occurs at the same place as an unknowing falsification—which is to say, at the place of the falsification. The mens rea element thus adds nothing to the conduct-focused analysis. The same is true of §1519’s demand that the falsification be done with the intent to obstruct an investigation. A falsification with that intent (like a falsification without it) again occurs wherever the falsification does—which here was in Abouammo’s Seattle home. The Ninth Circuit treated that second mens rea element differently, on the theory…

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