CONCLUSION AND PRAYER
The jury instructions here not only failed to require that Brooks take deliberate steps to blind himself to the illegal purpose of his conduct, but additionally instructed the jury that he did not need to “know” or even suspect that his conduct was unlawful. In combination, the jury instructions regarding “deliberate ignorance” and “ignorance of the law lowered the scienter which the Government was required to prove to a mere reckless or negligent standard. This Court should grant certiorari to en- sure uniformity of the law in allowing convictions on less than actual knowledge of the criminal nature of one’s conduct throughout the Circuit Courts of Ap- peals in this important and routinely encountered area of escalating complex business prosecutions.15
15 See generally, Harvey A. Silverglate, Three Felonies a Day (2011); The Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Without Intent: How Congress is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law (2010).
Respectfully submitted,
