Driggers

concurring:

I concur in the conclusion that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed. I write separately to emphasize that any instructional error regarding the elements of 18 U.S.C. § 1958 was, at most, technical in nature.

The district court instructed the jury that to find the defendant guilty

Our precedent has upheld jury instructions that track the statutory language. See, e.g. Johnson v. United States, 270 F.2d 721, 725 (9th Cir.1959); see also United States v. McKittrick, 142 F.3d 1170, 1177 (9th Cir.1998) (applying the same principle to a regulation). In my view, there is no legally significant difference between an instruction that states the defendant caused another to travel in interstate commerce with the intent that a murder be committed and an instruction that states the defendant caused another to travel in interstate commerce and intended that a murder be committed. See United States v. Peterson, 538 F.3d 1064, 1072 (9th Cir.2008) (discussing the “nebulous” difference between “could have influenced” and “capable of influencing”); see also United States v. Knigge, 832 F.2d 1100, 1109 (9th Cir.1988), as amended (holding that instruction was adequate…

Opinion by Chief Judge KOZINSKI; Concurrence by Judge RAWLINSON.

We consider the intent requirement of 18 U.S.C. § 1958 , which prohibits using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

Facts

Paul Driggers was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1958 by causing Matthew Robinson to travel in interstate commerce with the intent that a murder-for-hire be committed. Driggers twice asked Robinson to travel from California to Idaho to meet with him. Robinson testified that at the first meeting, in April 2006, he agreed to kill Driggers’s ex-wife for $10,000. Drig-gers drove him past the ex-wife’s house, and they discussed various murder methods. Robinson returned to California with the understanding that Driggers would send him a deposit when Driggers was ready to proceed with the plan. Driggers testified that he did not discuss murdering his ex-wife at the April meeting, and that Robinson later suggested the idea in a phone conversation. In July, Driggers deposited $1,000 in Robinson’s bank account. Robinson testified that Driggers asked *1023 him to return to Idaho and told him that he had a “green light” to proceed with the murder. Robinson became a…

Facts

Paul Driggers was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1958 by causing Matthew Robinson to travel in interstate com- merce with the intent that a murder-for-hire be committed. Driggers twice asked Robinson to travel from California to Idaho to meet with him. Robinson testified that at the first meeting, in April 2006, he agreed to kill Driggers’s ex-wife for $10,000. Driggers drove him past the ex-wife’s house, and they discussed various murder methods. Robinson returned to California with the understanding that Driggers would send him a deposit when Driggers was ready to proceed with the plan. Driggers testified that he did not discuss murdering his ex-wife at the April meeting, and that Robinson later sug- 3514 UNITED STATES v. DRIGGERS gested the idea in a phone conversation. In July, Driggers deposited $1,000 in Robinson’s bank account. Robinson testi- fied that Driggers asked him to return to Idaho and told him that he had a “green light” to proceed with the murder. Robin- son became a police informant, and his subsequent conversa- tions with Driggers were recorded.

In their next conversation, Driggers confirmed that he wanted Robinson to return to Idaho,…