## Facts

- The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a small vessel in international waters off Jamaica.
- The vessel displayed no flag, port, or registration markings.
- As the Coast Guard pursued, three occupants threw bales overboard; the Coast Guard recovered about 997 kilograms of marijuana.
- One occupant claimed to be the master and asserted the vessel was registered in Haiti.
- Haiti, contacted through diplomatic channels, neither confirmed nor denied registry.
- The government introduced a State Department certification memorializing Haiti’s response to establish that the vessel was “without nationality” and thus subject to U.S. jurisdiction under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA).
- The district court treated MDLEA jurisdiction as a preliminary question of law for the judge and did not submit jurisdiction to the jury; Campbell was convicted of MDLEA possession-with-intent and conspiracy.

## Issues

1. Whether admitting a State Department certification to prove MDLEA jurisdiction (statelessness) violates the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause.
2. Whether due process requires a U.S. nexus for MDLEA prosecution of foreign nationals on a stateless vessel in international waters.
3. Whether Congress exceeded its Article I power (Felonies Clause) by applying the MDLEA to drug trafficking on stateless vessels on the high seas.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Campbell’s convictions.
- Admission of the State Department certification did not violate the Confrontation Clause because it was used only to resolve a judge-decided jurisdiction question, not to prove guilt.
- The MDLEA may be applied to drug trafficking on stateless vessels in international waters without proof of a U.S. nexus, consistent with due process.
- Congress acted within its constitutional authority to define and punish felonies on the high seas when it criminalized this conduct and authorized extraterritorial enforcement against stateless vessels.

## Legal Principles

- Under the MDLEA, jurisdictional matters (including whether a vessel is subject to U.S. jurisdiction) are preliminary questions of law for the court, not elements for the jury.
- A vessel is “without nationality” when the master claims registry in a nation and that nation does not affirmatively and unequivocally assert nationality; such a vessel is subject to U.S. jurisdiction under the MDLEA.
- The Confrontation Clause protects against admission of testimonial statements used to establish guilt; it does not bar evidence considered solely to decide a non-element jurisdiction determination assigned to the judge.
- Due process does not require a territorial or national nexus to the United States for MDLEA prosecutions involving stateless vessels on the high seas.
- Congress’s power to define and punish felonies on the high seas permits extraterritorial criminalization and prosecution of drug trafficking conducted on stateless vessels in international waters.

## Conclusion

The court upheld MDLEA convictions arising from marijuana trafficking on a stateless vessel, holding that a State Department certification may be used to prove statelessness for jurisdiction without triggering Confrontation Clause protections, and that neither due process nor Article I limits MDLEA enforcement to cases with a U.S. nexus when the conduct occurs on stateless vessels on the high seas.


United States v. Campbell, 743 F.3d 802 (11th Cir. 2014)