标题: Death by Cyanide [打印本页] 作者: choi 时间: 4-25-2012 13:03 标题: Death by Cyanide John R Emshwiller and Gary Fields, Terror Law's Long Reach Challenged; Latest front in campaign against federation of crime is a statute enacted as part of a chemical-weapons treaty. Wall Street Journal, Apr 18, 2012 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 49871547145272.html
(i) Please read at least the first section Background.
(ii) The opinion summarized the charges against Dr Ghane this way, where uSC denotes United States Code, and the number before and after USC are chapter and section nymbers, respectively.
"The government charged Ghane with 'knowingly stockpil[ing], retain[ing], and possess[ing], a chemical weapon, that is, potassium cyanide, which is a toxic chemical not intended by the defendant to be used for a peaceful purpose' as that term is defined in 18 USC § 229F(7)(A). As contemplated by the statute, '[c]hemical weapon' means '[a] toxic chemical and its precursors, except where intended for a PURPOSE NOT PROHIBITED UNDER THIS CHAPTER.' 18 USC § 229F(1)(A) (emphasis added). 'Toxic chemical' is defined by the statute as 'any chemical which
through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals.' Id. at § 229F(8)(A). And, as relevant here, '[p]urposes not prohibited by this chapter' encompasses 'peaceful purposes,' which the statute defines as '[a]ny peaceful purpose related to an industrial, agricultural, research, medical, or pharmaceutical activity or other
activity.' Id. at § 229F(7)(A).
(iii) The opinion also mentioned the treaty Chemical Weapons Convention, on which the federal statutes were based.
(b)
(i) United States v Carol Bond (US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; Sept 13, 2009) http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/082677p.pdf
("Planning to poison [Myrlinda] Haynes [Bond's cloest friend who Bond's husband impregnated], Bond (a trained microbiologist) stole a quantity of 10-chloro-10H-phenoxarsine from her employer, the chemical manufacturer Rohm and Haas, and ordered over the Internet a vial of potassium dichromate. These chemicals have the rare ability to cause toxic harm to individuals through minimal topical contact")
(ii) The decision was reversed by Supreme Court in 2011, not based on the substance (her guilt) but on procedural ground (whether she had standing to challenge constitutionality of the federal statute at issue)--and remanded the case to the third circuit (based in Philadelphia) to reconsider (the third circuit has not rendered the new decision). http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-1227.pdf
US had contended even if the statute was unconstitutional by encroaching on state's right, only a state has the standing to sue. Supreme Court disagreed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_v._United_States_(2011)
(c) The second last sentence of the wSJ report stated, "A government filing said the law is sufficiently specific to bar possessing cyanide to possibly harm anyone, including oneself. It added that a suicide with cyanide could endanger Dr Ghane's neighbors and emergency responders."
(d) cyanide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide
(section 4 Toxicity: "The most hazardous compound is hydrogen cyanide, which, because it is a gas at ambient temperatures and pressure, can be inhaled. A supplied air respirator must be worn when working with hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide is produced when a solution containing a labile cyanide is acidified because HCN is a weak acid")