Facts
- Peter Malcolm Davis, a non-United States citizen, was the captain of the Myth, a sailing vessel registered in the United Kingdom.
- The Myth departed from Hong Kong and was believed by U.S. authorities to be involved in drug smuggling.
- While the Myth was on the high seas outside United States territorial waters and headed in a suspicious manner toward San Francisco, a United States Coast Guard vessel stopped it.
- Coast Guard officers requested permission to board; Davis refused and asserted the Coast Guard lacked authority to board a U.K.-registered vessel outside U.S. territory.
- Davis stated that instead of continuing toward San Francisco, the Myth would sail to the Caribbean by way of Mexico.
- The Coast Guard sought permission from the United Kingdom to board the Myth under an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
- The United Kingdom granted permission, and Coast Guard officers boarded the Myth.
- During the boarding, the Coast Guard found packages of marijuana on the vessel.
- Davis was charged with (1) possession of marijuana on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States with intent to distribute and (2) conspiracy to commit that offense, in violation of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA).
- Davis moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing the MDLEA did not apply to persons on foreign vessels outside U.S. territory; the district court denied the motion.
- Davis was convicted and appealed.
Issues
- Whether the MDLEA could be applied to a nonresident alien on a United Kingdom-flag vessel on the high seas, consistent with Congress’s constitutional authority and the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause.
- Whether due process required a “sufficient nexus” between Davis’s conduct and the United States for this extraterritorial prosecution, and if so, whether that requirement was met on these facts.
- Whether the Fourth Amendment applied to the Coast Guard’s search of a foreign-flag vessel on the high seas where the crew were nonresident aliens, such that the marijuana evidence should have been suppressed.
Decision
- The Ninth Circuit affirmed Davis’s convictions.
- The court held Congress may give extraterritorial effect to criminal statutes like the MDLEA, subject to due process limits.
- The court applied a due process “sufficient nexus” requirement for prosecuting a defendant extraterritorially and concluded the nexus was satisfied because Davis’s smuggling activity was directed at the United States market.
- The court held the Fourth Amendment did not apply to the search of a foreign-flag vessel on the high seas when the defendant was a nonresident alien without substantial connections to the United States; therefore, suppression was not warranted on Fourth Amendment grounds.
Legal Principles
- Congress may provide extraterritorial reach for federal criminal statutes, including drug-trafficking offenses on the high seas, when Congress clearly intends that reach and the application is consistent with the Constitution.
- The MDLEA is within Congress’s authority to define and punish felonies on the high seas under Article I, Section 8, Clause 10.
- For extraterritorial application of a federal criminal statute to satisfy the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, there must be a “sufficient nexus” between the defendant and the United States so the prosecution is not arbitrary or fundamentally unfair.
- A sufficient nexus exists when a defendant’s conduct is aimed at causing effects in the United States, such as trafficking drugs intended for importation or distribution in the United States.
- Nonresident aliens on a foreign-flag vessel in international waters generally are not protected by the Fourth Amendment with respect to U.S. law-enforcement searches conducted there.
Conclusion
The Ninth Circuit upheld Davis’s MDLEA convictions arising from the Coast Guard’s boarding of the U.K.-registered Myth on the high seas after the United Kingdom authorized the boarding. The court ruled that Congress could apply the MDLEA extraterritorially, that due process required a sufficient U.S. nexus and that Davis’s conduct satisfied it because the smuggling operation was directed at the United States, and that the Fourth Amendment did not apply to Davis as a nonresident alien on a foreign vessel in international waters, so the marijuana evidence was properly admitted.