United States v. Anthony Elonis

OPINION OF THE COURT

SCIRICA, Circuit Judge

Anthony Elonis was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which prohibits transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another. We affirmed his conviction on appeal, but the Supreme Court reversed our judgment. It held that the jury instruction regarding Elonis’s mental state was insufficient and therefore erroneous. On remand, we will once again affirm Elonis’s conviction because we hold the error was harmless.

I

In May 2010, Elonis’s wife left him, moved out of their home, and took their two…