THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
Jealous Wife’s Attempt to Murder Husband’s Mistress is Act of Terrorism A jealous wife who tried to poison her husband’s mistress, and was charged under an anti-terrorism law, lost her case before the U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit. Mrs. Bond, the accused, is a trained microbiologist who stole toxic chemicals from her employer and tried to use them in her attempt to murder. The concerned chemicals come under the category of “chemical weapons” according to an international chemical-weapons treaty. Under the Federal Chemical Weapons Act, it is a crime to obtain or use any ‘chemical weapon.’ Mrs. Bond (quite the 007 type) had sprinkled lethal material in the mailbox, car door handles and house doorknob of her husband’s mistress to kill her.
05/04/12
state powers. However, the Supreme Court overturned that decision and held that Bond, as an individual, had
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal
the power to challenge the law, as long as the law was
prosecutors were not wrong in applying the anti-
made applicable to her in her capacity as an individual.
terrorism law in this particular case. Mrs. Bond had
So, the case returned before the Third Circuit Court of
argued that the chemical-weapons treaty was for
Appeals.
targeting terrorist activity and not for local crimes of a spurned lover. She also argued that applying the law in
This time the Third Circuit resolved the issue by
her case intruded upon the powers of the state’s police
holding that the federal government was within its
as reserved under the Tenth Amendment.
rights to enact the chemical weapons law according to international treaties for controlling the use of devastating chemical weapons.
However, the Court of Appeals admitted that questions remained that need to be addressed by the government upon the issue. Judge Kent Jordan,
However, Judge Marjorie Rendell described the
writing for the three-judge panel mentioned, “While
government’s decision to prosecute Bond’s case
Bond’s prosecution seems a questionable exercise of
under the chemical weapons law as ‘troubling.’ In a
prosecutorial discretion, and indeed appears to justify
separate concurrence, Judge Thomas Ambro called
her assertion that this case trivializes the concept of
on the Supreme Court to clarify the boundaries of the
chemical weapons, the treaty that gave rise to it was
federal government to enact laws that intrude on local
implemented by sufficiently related legislation.”
activities, given that those who drafted the treaties could never have intended such an application.
Previously, the 3
rd
Circuit had rejected Bond’s appeal
on the ground that the chemical weapons law was not
The case is USA v. Bond, U.S. Court of Appeals for the
open to challenge by an individual for intruding upon
3rd Circuit, No. 08-2677.
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