When Michigan State Law Professor Brian Kalt began researching an article about how to commit the perfect crime, he discovered a little-known legal loophole just outside of the Wyoming border.

According to the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, jurors in a federal trial must reside in both the federal judicial district and the state where a crime is committed.

There is one place in America where a criminal defendent could invoke this clause; Yellowstone National Park.

Legally, Yellowstone National Park falls under the jurisdiction of the Wyoming Federal Court District. However, a considerable portion of Yellowstone extends into the states of Idaho and Montana.

Since Article III of the Constitution insists that a defendant must be tried in the state where the crime was committed, and since Yelllowstone falls under federal jurisdiction, Kalt argues that it would be theoretically impossible to seat a jury.

Therfore, constitutionally speaking, a person who committed murder inside Yellowstone National Park, but outside of the Wyoming state border, would have recourse to succesfully overturn any federal or state conviction on appeal.

To date, no one has invoked this clause of the Sixth Amendment in their defense. Let's hope nobody every does. Read more about Kalt's fascinating "perfect crime" theory here.

 

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