United States v. Edwin Affron Kartman

I must respectfully dissent.

This is an unusual case. A divinity student is charged with assaulting a deputy U. S. Marshal. He admits kicking the Marshal. His defense was twofold. First he claimed he did not know the person kicked was a U. S. Marshal. This was resolved against him by the trial court and by the majority here in its correct holding that knowledge of the official status of the victim of the assault is not an element of the offense under 18 U.S.C. § 111.

Second, his factual defense was that he went to the aid of a person he believed was being assaulted. He received complete and…