United States v. Place Pays/Territoire États-Unis d'Amérique Type de cour Nationale - cour supérieure Date Aoû 21, 2012 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal United States Court of Appeal for the First Circuit Juge Lynch, Lipez and Thompson. Numéro de référence No. 11-1246 Langue Anglais Sujet Espèces sauvages et écosystèmes Mot clé Espèces menacées Infractions/sanctions Produits de la chasse Espèces végétales protégées Espèces animales protégées Espèces halieutiques protégées Mise en application Protection des espèces Résumé David L. Place appeals his convictions for illegally trafficking in sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks. Specifically, a jury found that Place's whale-tooth dealings violated CITES, the international compact implemented in the United States via the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and regulations authorized by the ESA. But Place says the district judge should have instructed the jury on certain lesser-included offenses because he did not actually know his transactions were illegal, even if he should have known. He also says his smuggling convictions are legally wrong because his conduct violated only regulations, not statutes. The Appeals Court said it disagreed "with both lines of argument" and affirmed the convictions. The Appeals Court concluded, "Place was charged, fairly tried, and properly convicted for knowingly flouting these laws and the regulations implementing them. Rejecting his arguments on appeal for the reasons set forth above, we now affirm these convictions in full. Texte intégral COU-159537.pdf