United States v. Kelechi Ajoku

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT SEP 23 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 11-50230
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:08-cr-01094-WDK-5
v.
MEMORANDUM*
KELECHI AJOKU, aka Kelechi Ajouku,
Defendant - Appellant.
On Remand From The United States Supreme Court
Argued and Submitted September 16, 2014
San Francisco, California
Before: GOODWIN, HAWKINS, and WARDLAW, Circuit Judges.
Kelechi Ajoku (“Ajoku”) was convicted of four counts of making a false
statement relating to a health care benefit program under 18 U.S.C. § 1035. On
appeal, Ajoku challenges the district court’s jury instruction on the statute’s
“willfulness” mental state element. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and
we reverse and remand for a new trial.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
As conceded by the government in its opposition brief to Ajoku’s petition for
certiorari, the district court erred by giving an instruction on the element of
“willfulness” that does not comply with Bryan v. United States. See 524 U.S. 184,
191-92 (1998) (“As a general matter, when used in the criminal context, a willful act
is one undertaken with a bad purpose. In other words, in order to establish a willful
violation of a statute, the Government must prove that the defendant acted with
knowledge that his conduct was unlawful.” (footnote and internal quotation marks
omitted)). It is thus undisputed that Ajoku’s jury received an erroneous instruction.
We apply harmless-error analysis to cases involving improperly instructed
juries on a single element of the offense. See Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 9-10
(1999). On the record before us, we are unable to conclude that it is “clear beyond a
reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found [Ajoku] guilty” of the charges
had it been properly instructed. Id. at 18. We therefore reverse and remand for a new
trial or other proceedings consistent with this disposition.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
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