United States v. Laurence John Layton

Layton appeals the District Court’s order, 509 F.Supp. 212 (N.D.Cal.1981), denying his motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We dismiss the appeal for lack of a final judgment within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

I.

On October 9, 1980, Layton was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California. The indictment contained four counts: (1) conspiracy to murder a United States Congressman in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 351 (d); (2) aiding and abetting the murder of a Congressman in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 351 (a); (3) conspiracy to murder an internationally protected person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1117 ; and (4) aiding and abetting the attempted murder of an internationally protected person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1116 (a). The charges arise from events which occurred at the Port Kaiturna, Guyana airport on November 18, 1978. Those events resulted in the death of Leo J. Ryan, the United States Congressman from the 11th Congressional District of California, and the wounding of Richard Dwyer, the Deputy Chief of Mission for the United States in the Republic of Guyana. Layton was in custody in Guyana at the time the…