## Facts

- Beatrix McKinney and Joyce Straight boarded horses at the Fort Riley horse stables, located on the Fort Riley military installation in Kansas.
- On June 11, 1999, McKinney approached Straight at the stables about military police questioning Straight regarding a credit-card theft at the stables.
- The discussion turned to McKinney’s late stall rent; McKinney asked for more time to pay.
- Straight also warned McKinney about profanity and McKinney’s dogs being out of control at the stables; McKinney became angry and the women separated.
- Later, while McKinney was feeding her horse, she yelled, “Nothing better happen to my horse,” and Straight responded, “Same with mine.”
- Straight testified that McKinney then yelled, “I’ll kill you, you fucking bitch,” while heading toward her vehicle.
- Straight testified that, after the threat, she feared McKinney might drive into her car as they were leaving.
- Straight further testified that, after a prior argument, McKinney drove her truck directly at Mr. and Mrs. Straight at about twenty miles per hour and stopped only a few feet short of their vehicle.
- The United States charged McKinney by one-count information with simple assault on a federal enclave, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(5).
- After a bench trial, a magistrate judge found McKinney guilty and credited Straight’s testimony.
- McKinney appealed to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, which affirmed the conviction and likewise accepted the magistrate judge’s credibility findings.
- McKinney then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove simple assault under 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(5) based on McKinney’s threat and Straight’s claimed fear of immediate bodily harm, including fear informed by the parties’ prior vehicle incident.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove the offense occurred within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States (i.e., that the Fort Riley horse stables were on the military installation).

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, leaving McKinney’s simple-assault conviction in place.
- The court held that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, a rational factfinder could find beyond a reasonable doubt that McKinney’s threat, in context, placed Straight in reasonable fear of immediate bodily harm.
- The court treated the magistrate judge’s credibility determinations—accepted by the district court—as binding on sufficiency review, and it declined to reweigh conflicting testimony.
- The court also concluded the government presented sufficient evidence that the Fort Riley horse stables were on the military installation and therefore within federal territorial jurisdiction for purposes of § 113.

## Legal Principles

- On a sufficiency challenge, the reviewing court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and asks whether any rational trier of fact could find each element proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Simple assault under 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(5) may be established by a willful attempt or threat to inflict injury that causes a reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm; physical contact is not required.
- In assessing whether fear was reasonable and immediate, the factfinder may consider the surrounding circumstances, including prior interactions between the same individuals that bear on how the threat would be understood.
- Appellate courts do not second-guess the factfinder’s credibility choices on sufficiency review; resolving conflicts in testimony is for the trial judge in a bench trial.
- The jurisdictional element for § 113 requires proof the offense occurred within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, which can be shown through witness testimony and other circumstantial evidence that the location was on a federal military installation.

## Conclusion

United States v. McKinney affirmed a simple-assault conviction arising from a confrontation at the Fort Riley horse stables, holding the evidence was sufficient both that McKinney’s death threat caused Straight to reasonably fear immediate harm—especially given a prior incident where McKinney drove her truck at the Straits and stopped just short of impact—and that the stables were located on the Fort Riley military installation within federal territorial jurisdiction.


United States v. McKinney, 17 Fed. Appx. 808 (2001)