Navajo Nation v. Platero

I join in the opinion of the Court and concur in the ruling. I take this opportunity to identify certain principles which should guide the practitioners and the Court on criminal appeals brought before the Court. I also write separately to show that the same conclusion can be reached in this case using Anglo-American law.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The legisative history does not indicate the source for the Navajo Criminal Code, but many of its sections appear to be taken, word-for-word, from the American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code (Approved May 24, 1962). Where this Court identifies a foreign…