## Facts

- James Vernell Moore, a federal inmate at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota, tested positive for HIV antibodies and was informed the condition could be fatal and had no known cure.
- After learning his HIV status, Moore struggled with two federal correctional officers performing official duties.
- During the altercation, Moore bit both officers, causing deep bite wounds.
- The government charged Moore with two counts of assault on federal officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon under 18 U.S.C. §§ 111 and 1114, alleging the weapon was Moore’s “own mouth and teeth.”
- A medical expert testified that AIDS probably could not be transmitted by a human bite, but that deep bites can transmit other viruses and create a risk of serious bodily harm.
- A jury convicted Moore; the district court denied Moore’s post-trial motions for acquittal and a new trial.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to allow the jury to find that Moore’s mouth and teeth, used to inflict deep bites, constituted a “deadly and dangerous weapon” under 18 U.S.C. § 111 despite uncertainty about HIV transmission by biting.
2. Whether the district court erred in refusing a defense instruction requiring acquittal on the “dangerous weapon” element unless the government proved AIDS could be transmitted by a bite.

## Decision

- The Eighth Circuit affirmed the convictions.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find Moore used his mouth and teeth in a manner likely to inflict serious bodily harm, even apart from HIV infection.
- The court held the district court properly refused the proposed instruction tying the “dangerous weapon” element to proof of AIDS transmission by biting because it misstated the governing legal standard.

## Legal Principles

- Under 18 U.S.C. § 111, an instrumentality is a “deadly and dangerous weapon” based on the manner of its use and its capacity, in the circumstances, to cause death or serious bodily injury; it need not be inherently deadly.
- Body parts, including a mouth and teeth, may qualify as a “deadly and dangerous weapon” when used in a manner likely to inflict serious bodily harm.
- The government need not prove transmission of a particular disease to establish “deadly and dangerous weapon” if the conduct itself created a likelihood of serious bodily harm.
- A trial court may refuse a requested instruction that incorrectly narrows the statutory element or misstates the applicable legal test.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Moore’s convictions because the deep bites supported a finding that his mouth and teeth were used as a dangerous weapon likely to cause serious bodily harm, and the jury was not required to decide whether HIV could be transmitted by biting to satisfy the § 111 “dangerous weapon” element.


United States v. Moore, 846 F.2d 1163 (8th Cir. 1988)