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Timestamp: 2017-01-18 02:13:30
Document Index: 396514506

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1951', '§ 1951', '§ 1951', '§ 1951', '§ 1951', '§ 1951']

| United States v. Demet
United States v. Demet
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,v.GEORGE DEMET, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
Swygert, Chief Judge, and Kiley and Fairchild, Circuit Judges. Swygert, Chief Judge (concurring).
Defendant was convicted by a jury of obstructing, delaying and affecting commerce and the movement of articles in commerce by extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951, commonly called the Hobbs Act.*fn1 On this appeal defendant asserts error in jury selection, insufficiency of the evidence as to extortion and effect on interstate commerce, and erroneous rulings during the course of trial. We have considered these contentions, find none meritorious and affirm the conviction.
Shortly before defendant's trial began, another vice officer from defendant's district was tried and convicted of extortion of a tavern owner in violation of § 1951 before another judge of the district court. In other respects the two cases were unrelated.
Mere service on another jury confronted with similar charges and similar facts is not, even where some of government witnesses are the same, the type of experience from which the law will infer bias.*fn2 We find no error.
Under § 1951 extortion is defined as "the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened fear, or under color of official right." The government's proof was directed to showing that King feared economic loss should he not comply with defendant's demands.
Defendant contends that the government's proof was an insufficient basis upon which to convict for extortion. Because King admitted his encounters with the defendant were friendly and defendant never said nor intimated he would cause "trouble," defendant contends that King's conduct was not motivated by fear as required by § 1951. Rather, defendant argues, King willingly gave money to defendant because it brought certain advantages (such as non-enforcement of parking restrictions) to which he was not lawfully entitled. Thus, in essence, defendant argues that he was merely a receiver of bribes and could therefore not be guilty of extortion.
Fear, as used in § 1951, includes not only fear of physical violence but fear of economic harm, as well. Bianchi v. United States, 219 F.2d 182, 189 (8th Cir., 1955), cert. denied, 349 U.S. 915, 75 S. Ct. 604, 99 L. Ed. 1249; United States v. Sopher, 362 F.2d 523, 527 (7th Cir., 1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 928, 87 S. Ct. 286, 17 L. Ed. 2d 210. It is not necessary that this fear be a consequence of a direct threat, it is enough that the circumstances surrounding the alleged extortion render the victim's fear reasonable. See e.g., United States v. Tolub, 309 F.2d 286, 288-289 (2nd Cir., 1962); United States v. Addonizio, 451 F.2d 49, 73 (3rd Cir., 1972), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 936, 92 S. Ct. 949, 30 L. Ed. 2d 812; Carbo v. United States, 314 F.2d 718, 740 (9th Cir., 1963); Callanan v. United States, 223 F.2d 171, 175-176 (8th Cir., 1955); United States v. Glasser, 443 F.2d 994, 1006 (2nd Cir., 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 854, 92 S. Ct. 96, 30 L. Ed. 2d 95.
"The fact that relations between the victims and the extorters were often cordial is not inconsistent with extortion. Knowing that they were at the mercy of the Attorney General's office, it is a fair inference that the victims felt that to save their businesses they had to keep the extorters satisfied." United States v. Hyde, 448 F.2d 815, 834, 5th Cir., 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1058, 92 S. Ct. 736, 30 L. Ed. 2d 745.
"It is the wrongful use of an otherwise valid power that converts dutiful action into extortion. If the purpose and effect are to intimidate others, forcing them to pay, the action constitutes extortion. Put another way, it is the right to impartial determination of the issue on the merits (i.e. whether to enforce the law or whether to picket or strike) that the victim is deprived of when these actions are taken for the purpose of coercing him into paying. The distinction from bribery is therefore the initiative and purpose on the part of the official and the fear and lack of voluntariness on the part of the victim." United States v. Hyde, supra, at 833.
While portions of King's testimony taken with other evidence may be consistent with defendant's view that King freely gave money and liquor to obtain advantages, the jury could reasonably infer from all the circumstances, including defendant's official position, that King was in fear of harm to his business, his fear was reasonable, and defendant exploited it to extort money and liquor.
In arguing for acquittal, defendant's counsel presented his view of the facts, i.e. that King was a willing participant and that any fear which King felt was unreasonable. The jury was instructed that in order for defendant's conduct to be considered extortion defendant must obtain the money through a wrongful use of fear, including fear of economic harm, and that the fear must be reasonable. Thus the issue of whether King gave money to defendant voluntarily in order to obtain certain advantages or out of fear that if money was not forthcoming he would be subject to police harassment was squarely presented to the jury.
The jury apparently thought King's conduct was induced by fear and that defendant's conduct constituted extortion. We cannot say the verdict was not supported by substantial evidence.*fn3
3. Alleged Failure to Affect Interstate Commerce.
Extortion is an offense against the United States when the extorter "in any way or degree obstructs, delays or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, . . . ." 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). In order to satisfy the interstate commerce element, the government offered proof that some of the beer and liquor purchased for the Scene had out of state origins, that in one instance a national corporation shipped its product across state lines to a Chicago warehouse from which it was delivered to the Scene and that in another instance a local company purchased liquor from out of state producers and then resold it to the Scene and others.
Relying primarily on cases applying the Fair Labor Standards Act, defendant argues that by the time the Scene acquired these beverages they were no longer in interstate commerce and that any extortion therefore could have no effect on interstate commerce. Because of differences in the statutes, such decisions are not controlling as to the requisite manner or degree of interference with commerce that may justify conviction under the Hobbs Act. United States v. Kramer, 355 F.2d 891, 896 (7th Cir., 1966), vacated in part on other grounds, 384 U.S. 100, 86 S. Ct. 1366, 16 L. Ed. 2d 396.
"The commerce clause endows Congress will full and plenary power to do anything and everything necessary to protect interstate commerce -- The specific question is whether in the statute involved the Congress has seen fit to exercise all of its power." Walling v. Goldblatt Bros., 128 F.2d 778, 781 (7th Cir., 1942).
When a law purports to regulate activities "in commerce" something less than the full commerce power is exercised. Walling v. Goldblatt, supra. On the other hand, a law which regulates matters "affecting" interstate commerce is within, though a more nearly full application of, the commerce power.*fn4
Section 1951 clearly contemplates a full application of the commerce power. It proscribes extortion which "in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce. . . ." In United States v. Stirone, 361 U.S. 212, 215, 80 S. Ct. 270, 272, 4 L. Ed. 2d 252, 255 (1960), the Supreme Court said of the Hobbs Act:
"That Act speaks in broad language, manifesting a purpose to use all the constitutional power Congress has to punish interference with interstate commerce by extortion, robbery or physical violence. The Act outlaws such interference 'in any way or degree.'"*fn5
Because Congress has seen fit to exercise its full power under the commerce clause, extortionate conduct having an arguably de minimis effect on commerce may nevertheless be punished. Battaglia v. United States, 383 F.2d 303, 305 (9th Cir., 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 907, 88 S. Ct. 817, 19 L. Ed. 2d 874 (extortion resulted in a pool table from an out of state source being kept from use); United States v. Augello, 451 F.2d 1167 (2nd Cir., 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1070, 92 S. Ct. 1518, 31 L. Ed. 2d 802 (assets of drive-in restaurant which purchased mostly from an out-of-state concern depleted by $100; proprietor, in addition, gave $200 from his personal funds.). See also United States v. Glasser, 443 F.2d 994 (2d Cir., 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 854, 92 S. Ct. 96, 30 L. Ed. 2d 95; United States v. Tropiano, 418 F.2d 1069, 1076 (2d Cir., 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1021, 90 S. Ct. 1258, 25 L. Ed. 2d 530; United States v. Mitchell, 463 F.2d 187 (8th Cir., 1972).
Where the victim of extortion, as here, customarily obtains inventory which has come from outside the state, obstruction and delay of, and effect upon commerce may, for the purpose of the Hobbs Act, be found in curtailment of the victim's potential as a buyer of such goods. This may be traced either through the depletion of his assets by his fulfillment of the extortionate demands or the harm which would follow if the threats were carried out. See United States v. Pranno, 385 F.2d 387 (7th Cir., 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 944, 972, 88 S. Ct. 1028, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1132; United States v. Battaglia, 394 F.2d 304, 312 (7th Cir., 1968), vacated on other grounds, 394 U.S. 310, 89 S. Ct. 1163, 22 L. Ed. 2d 297; United States v. Amabile, 395 F.2d 47, 49-50 (7th Cir., 1968).
The conversation already described by King had included King's assertion that he had made frequent payments to a police officer concerning late night parking. We gather from colloquy out of the presence of the jury that he had made payments to other officers in the past. These were irrelevant, but the meaning of the word "mutuels" was not. It is dubious that significant prejudice to defendant arose, there was need for explanation of the word, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in handling the matter.
Several years ago I took issue by dissent with a holding of this court that a depletion of corporate reserves comprised an "interference with interstate commerce" within the meaning of the Hobbs Act where a corporation was engaged in interstate commerce. United States v. Amabile, 395 F.2d 47, 54 (7th Cir., 1968), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 924, 91 S. Ct. 869, 27 L. Ed. 2d 828. My concern was centered on the unlimited reach of the doctrine espoused by the majority:
I would also narrow what some might read to be the holding of the majority on the question of extortion under the Hobbs Act. DeMet was prosecuted below for a violation of that portion of the Hobbs Act which makes illegal "the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened fear." As my colleagues recognize, the proof of the Government was directed to demonstrating a fear of economic loss on the part of King. Proof of fear may not have been necessary had the Government chosen to rely on another provision to the Hobbs Act, namely, that prohibiting "the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, . . . under color of official right." (emphasis supplied). It is, of course, hardly appropriate to render a decision on that issue in this case, and I express no views on it.*fn*