CA1: First decides a rule of lenity case for defendant

US v. Godin, No. 07-2332 (7/18/08) reverses a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a) which is the identity theft statute.  Applying the rule of lenity, the First holds that the government must prove that the defendant knew that the documents used represented the identity of another person.  This person just used a lot of completely fake information to defraud banks. The First realizes that there is a split here, but it seems to come down on the right side, and makes it clear that the rule of lenity still exists.

There are some interesting arguments made about the correct way to interpret the statute, and whether “knowingly” is an adjective or an adverb, and whether one word can modify a whole long string of words.  So, this case is worth reading even if you represent middle class people or real people with real money.