082026P.pdf   04/30/2009  United States  v.  Joseph DeMarce
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  08-2026
   District of North Dakota - Fargo   
   [PUBLISHED] [Benton, Author, with Loken, Chief Judge, and Melloy,
   Circuit Judge]
   Criminal case - Criminal law and Sentencing. While the district court
   erred in finding defendant did not clearly invoke his right to silence, the
   error was harmless as officers scrupulously honored the right at the time
   it was invoked; statements defendant made nine days later, after again
   receiving his rights, were admissible; certain portions of testimony by
   victim's mother were inadmissible hearsay; however, the error did not
   require reversal as the testimony did not influence or had only the
   slightest influence on the verdict; evidence was sufficient to support
   conviction for attempted aggravated sexual abuse and attempted sexual
   abuse of a minor; jury instructions given in the case properly stated the
   elements of the offense, and defendant was not entitled to instruction
   requiring the jury to find that he attempted to engage in an anatomically
   specific act of attempted abuse; Adam Walsh Act did not violate
   defendant's equal protection rights, as the penalties associated with the
   Act serve Congress's purpose of deterring sex offenders and are
   rationally related to Congress's objective of protecting children.