Leroy Baca v. United States

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 described in brief compass.” United States v. Brady, 168 F.3d 574, 578 (1st Cir. 1999). The same is true today, and this petition provides an opportunity for this Court to address the longstanding confusion. The first question presented is: Whether the term “corruptly” in 18 U.S.C. § 1503 requires the government to prove that the defendant had a “specific intent to obtain an unlawful advantage,” Marinello v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1101, 1108 (2018), which includes a consciousness of wrongdoing similar to criminal willfulness.

In the past 40 years, some trial courts have developed a practice of using anonymous juries, prohibiting even the defendant and the attorneys from learning the jurors’ identities. This Court has yet to consider this departure from the public jury trial tradition, a departure that continues to expand. The second question presented is: Whether a defendant has a Constitutional, statutory, or common law right to a public jury in a federal criminal trial, and, if so, whether publicity can justify a complete deprivation of that right or instead whether a court must consider lesser alternatives, including sequestration or limited disclosure of the jurors’ identities to the attorneys so they may effectively select the jury.