In-Flight Slap Can Be Prosecuted in District Where Plane Lands

A woman who slapped a fellow passenger on a plane bound for Los Angeles was properly charged in federal court in that city, the full Ninth Circuit held Thursday, joining two federal appeals courts and closing a circuit split opened in 2019.

Offenses committed during commercial flights can be charged in the district where the plane lands, the en banc court held, citing rulings from the Tenth and Eleventh circuits. The decision replaces a 2019 opinion in which a three-judge panel held that Monique Lozoya should have been charged in the venue over which the slap occurred.

Flyover prosecution is ...