United State v. Erramilli

Susan and Vincent Domino were on a flight to Chicago from their vacation in Las Vegas. Due to the open seat policy on the airline, Mr. Domino sat on the right side of the plane in the aisle because he was blind in his right eye and this let him see what was going on, while Mrs. Domino sat by the window so she could lay on the wall and rest. Defendant was the last passenger on a full plane, so he sat between the couple.

Mrs. Domino did fall asleep, but awoke to something brushing against her leg. Thinking it was an accident she went back to sleep. Again, she awoke to pressure on her upper thigh. She turned away from the defendant and said “excuse me”. A little drowsy and unsure she tried to go back to sleep. On a third occasion while she was asleep, defendant slid his hand up Mrs. Domino’s shorts and squeezed her inner thigh. Mrs. Domino “lost control” at this point and her husband called for a flight attendant but the plane was already in descendent. Upon landing the three were escorted and met by the Chicago Police Department where Mrs. Domino told the officers what had happened.

Grand jury indicted the defendant with two counts of nonconsensual sexual contact for the second two incidents. At trial, the defendant attempted to keep out his two prior convictions for the same charges, one in 199 and one in 2002. In both instances he groped women who were asleep on airplanes, both on the side of their breasts.