State of New Hampshire v. Adam Mueller

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Adam Mueller, was convicted of three counts of felony wiretapping. See RSA 570-A:2, 1(a) (Supp. 2012). On appeal, he argues that the Superior Court {Brown, J.) committed plain error by instructing the jury that a violation of the felony wiretapping statute requires a mental state of “purposely,” when the statute specifically identifies “wilfully” as the applicable mental state. The State agrees that the trial court’s instruction as to the requisite mens rea was erroneous, but asserts that reversal of the defendant’s convictions is not warranted because…