In September 1994, Teddy Arnold recruited his son, Vernon Lennon, to begin stealing cars to be taken to the chop shop for dismantling. Lennon, in turn, recruited two individuals, David Valentine and Holloway, to assist him in his car thefts. The co-conspirators agreed that they should use a firearm during their thefts, and Lennon showed both Valentine and Holloway a .32 caliber revolver he intended to use for that purpose.

The co conspirators engaged in a number carjacking theft starting in October of 1994.

On November 22, 1994, two of the carjacking victims, Ruben Rodriguez and Sara Markett, identified Holloway as one of the carjackers in a police line-up. Following his identification, Holloway confessed to the police that he had participated with Lennon in three carjackings involving a silver Mercedes-Benz, a black Nissan Maxima, and a gray Nissan. Immediately prior to trial, Lennon pled guilty to several carjacking charges  and eight automatic teller machine robberies. Thereafter, Lennon testified at trial as a government witness. Lennon testified that his plan was to steal the victims’ cars without harming the victims; however,  he would have used the gun if one of the victims had given him “a hard time” or had resisted.

Holloway was charged with and convicted of a number of offenses including three counts of carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119.

For your reference, 18 U.S.C. § 2119 reads in relevant parts as follows:

Whoever, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm takes a motor vehicle that has been transported, shipped, or received in interstate or foreign commerce from the person or presence of another by force and violence or by intimidation, or attempts to do so, shall–

(1) be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both,

(2) if serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of this title, including any conduct that, if the conduct occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, would violate section 2241 or 2242 of this title) results, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more that 25 years, or both, and

(3) if death results, be fined under this title or imprisoned for any number of  [*86]  years up to life, or both, or sentenced to death.

Holloway challenged his conviction. He argued that the phrase “ with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm” that appears in the first line of 18 U.S.C § 2119 should be read to mean that a defendant must possess a specific and unconditional intent to kill or harm in order to complete the proscribed offense.

If the statute was read this way, then the jury would have to find that he had an unconditional and specific intent to cause death  or serios bodily injury to the victims irrespective of what situation arose in the process of stealing their cars, in order to find him guilty under the statute.