Does a Federal Indictment that Lacks an Element of the Charged Offense Require Automatic Reversal?
United States v. Resendiz-Ponce Docket No. 05-998 From: The Ninth Circuit Case at a Glance Juan Resendiz-Ponce, a Mexican citizen, was indicted for attempting to illegally reenter the United States, but the indictment did not explicitly allege an overt act. Resendiz-Ponce argues, and the Ninth Circuit found, that this is a fatal flaw, requiring dismissal of the indictment. The government argues that failing to allege an overt act is subject to the harmless error doctrine and that in this case the government’s error was indeed harmless and Resendiz-Ponce’s conviction should therefore be affirmed. • Previewed by Davalene Cooper, a professor of law at New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.
