It is also noteworthy that while in Hobbs Act cases it is for the jury to determine whether the evidence shows a connection with interstate commerce, such as whether an extortion victim relied upon the interstate shipments of materials and supplies for carrying on a construction project, it is for the trial court to determine, as a matter of law, whether the activities of the defendant obstructed, delayed, or affected interstate commerce. Bearing in mind that the Hobbs Act proscribes even indirect and insubstantial effects upon interstate commerce, a defendant's conduct, amounting to either robbery or extortion, which somehow affects the movement of articles and commodities in commerce may be held to cause the requisite obstruction, delay, or effect upon commerce. Similarly, where a business concern which is substantially engaged in interstate commerce meets extortive demands for payment, it has been held that the depletion of the assets of the business is an obstruction, delay, or effect upon commerce as contemplated by the prohibitions of the Hobbs Act. It has also been recognized that the use of interstate transportation and communication facilities in order to execute a scheme of robbery or extortion obstructs, delays, or affects commerce as proscribed by the act. Although the circumstances of these obstructions of commerce involved a defendant's activities directly affecting the movement of articles in commerce or commerce itself, the Hobbs Act is nevertheless violated where the defendant's conduct affects articles at a time when they have ended their journey in commerce.
Robbery is one of the means of interference with commerce which the act proscribes.
Thus, it has been held that the mere interference by force and violence with the control of a motor vehicle moving in interstate commerce, without the removal or carrying away of any article therefrom, could not constitute robbery or attempted robbery under the Hobbs Act. Of course, where the evidence in the particular case establishes that robberies have been planned or committed with a resultant effect upon commerce, convictions under the robbery provisions of the Hobbs Act have been sustained. Violence and threats of violence are of course frequently employed by extortioners to secure money and other valuable property. Whether or not it is an aspect of the labor movement, the use of violent means to obtain another's property without his consent results in an interference with commerce, and constitutes extortion under the Hobbs Act. Even though there is no threat of physical violence by the defendant, an offense under the extortion provisions of the Hobbs Act may be committed, as noted above, where the defendant's conduct causes an employer or other party to fear economic loss.