141780P.pdf   06/02/2015  United States  v.  Deborah Mae Carlson
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  14-1780
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - St. Paul   
   [PUBLISHED] [Kelly, Author, with Loken and Bright, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law. Evidence was sufficient to support 
   defendant's convictions for mailing threatening and extortionate 
   communications; 18 U.S.C. Sec 876 requires the intent to extort from a 
   natural person, a fact which must be determined by a jury in order to 
   reach a conviction; the district court erred when it gave a jury 
   instruction that removed this question from the jury and reduced the 
   element in three counts to a presumption that would be satisfied so long 
   as the jury found defendant had sent a letter to each of the named 
   corporate or business entities; however, the error was harmless since two 
   of the letters had been addressed to the managers of the stores and no 
   reasonable jury could conclude that the store managers for a Target store 
   and an auto dealer were not persons within the meaning of the statute; 
   however, the third letter and third count involved a letter simply sent to 
   a business and the conviction on this count must be vacated and remanded 
   for further proceedings. Judge Loken, concurring in part and dissenting in 
   part.