UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-4608
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JAMES MONROE COX,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Robert G. Doumar, Senior
District Judge. (CR-03-28)
Submitted: January 15, 2004 Decided: January 27, 2004
Before WIDENER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Frank W. Dunham, Jr., Federal Public Defender, Larry W. Shelton,
Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender, Norfolk, Virginia,
for Appellant. Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Robert J.
Seidel, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Norfolk, Virginia,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
James Monroe Cox appeals the judgment order of the
district court convicting him of threatening to assassinate the
President of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871
(2000). Finding no error, we affirm.
Cox claims that he lacked the requisite intent to carry
out his threat and that the threat was actually made as part of a
deliberate attempt to remain incarcerated. Regardless of Cox’s
motivation, when questioned by the Secret Service, he clearly
expressed a present intent to harm the President if released from
incarceration. See United States v. Patillo, 438 F.2d 13, 16 (4th
Cir. 1971) (en banc). When the threat is considered in the context
of Cox’s violent history, we cannot conclude that insufficient
evidence supported Cox’s conviction. Accordingly, we affirm Cox’s
conviction and sentence. We dispense with oral argument because
the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before the court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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