XIII. PENAL ACTIONS AGAINST PASSENGERS

A. Passenger Gets Thirty Years For Air Piracy

1. In United States v. Compton, 5 F.3d 358 (9th Cir. 1993), defendant on board a Southwest Airline flight handed the senior flight attendant a note claiming that he had nitroglycerin on his person and demanding that the flight go to New York and that he be given $13 million in ransom money before continuing the flight to Cuba. The defendant was informed that the plane did not have enough fuel to go to New York and that a stop would have to be made in San Diego. At that point the defendant announced he wasn't serious. The plane landed in San Diego where defendant was arrested.

2. Defendant was indicted, convicted and sentenced to thirty years for air piracy and twenty years for interference with a flight crew member. The court vacated the interference charge because it was a lesser included offense necessarily committed in the act of attempted air piracy.

B. Bonus Miles Are Considered Property

1. In United States v. Oesterbald, 12 F.3d 1100 (9th Cir. 1993) (unpublished opinion available at 1993 WL 478420), defendants appealed denial of motion to dismiss indictment for mail and wire fraud arising from defendant's alleged fraud in a scheme of bonus mile acquisitions that defendants redeemed for travel credits.

2. The court affirmed the lower court's ruling that the bonus miles were things of value and hence were property for purposes of the mail and wire fraud statutes.

C. Evidence Of Drugs Discovered As Part Of Security Check Is Not Admissible

1. In United States v. Ross, 32 F.3d 1411 (9th Cir. 1994), packages of cocaine which were discovered by airport security personnel as part of a security check were not admissible into evidence.

2. The court held that the evidence should be suppressed because the airport employees were acting as state actors because the "search was part of the overall, nationwide anti-hijacking effort." Therefore, the search was illegal since the employee did not have a search warrant.

D. Passenger Who Harassed Crew And Other Passengers Convicted Of Recklessly Endangering Aircraft

1. In United States v. Jenny, 7 F.3d 953 (10th Cir. 1993), defendant's behavior on flight included using vulgar expletives when addressing crew members, sexually molesting a cabin attendant and generally harassing other passengers on the flight.

2. Due to defendants behavior the plane was forced to make an unscheduled landing where the defendant was removed from the flight and arrested.

3. The court found that defendant recklessly endangered the safety of the aircraft and the passengers and sentenced defendant to fifty-one months for two counts of intimidating flight crew members and six months for one count of abusive sexual conduct to be served concurrently.

E. Passenger Convicted Of Forgery For Submission Of False Receipts For Value Of Stolen Possessions

1. In State v. Omar, unpublished opinion 1994 WL 263234, defendant's possessions, valued at $4450, were stolen from a suitcase on a flight from Ohio to Turkey.

2. The air carrier agreed to pay $640 mandated by the Warsaw Convention and to reimburse defendant for the full amount if the defendant could produce receipts supporting the value of the possessions.

3. Defendant submitted altered receipts to the air carrier in order to recoup the value of his lost possessions. Defendant was convicted of forgery for the submission of the false receipts.