Opinion ID: 145521
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The District Court Correctly Found a Jurisdictional Nexus with Interstate Commerce

Text: Guzman argues that the district court erred in finding that the Manchester Street building was used in interstate or foreign commerce or in any activity affecting interstate or foreign commerce as required by the arson statute, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). It is agreed that the building had five units, four of which were rented out and one of which was occupied by the building's owners. The rule in this circuit is that rental property is per se sufficiently connected to interstate commerce to confer federal jurisdiction under Section 844(i). United States v. DiSanto, 86 F.3d 1238, 1248 (1st Cir.1996); see also United States v. Ruiz, 105 F.3d 1492, 1499 (1st Cir.1997). Guzman argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Jones v. United States, 529 U.S. 848, 120 S.Ct. 1904, 146 L.Ed.2d 902 (2000), calls this holding into question. Jones held that an owner occupied private home was not used in interstate commerce for purposes of § 844(i). Id. at 859, 120 S.Ct. 1904. Guzman argues that a building that is partially owner occupied and partially rented, as here, should not be considered a part of interstate commerce. Jones does not help Guzman. In Jones the Supreme Court explicitly affirmed an earlier case, Russell v. United States, 471 U.S. 858, 105 S.Ct. 2455, 85 L.Ed.2d 829 (1985), where the Supreme Court had found a two-unit rental building to be used in interstate commerce. Jones, 529 U.S. at 856, 120 S.Ct. 1904. The Jones Court emphasized the proper inquiry under § 844(i) is how the property is used and whether that use affects interstate commerce. Id. at 854, 120 S.Ct. 1904. There is no question that the building where the fatal fire occurred in this case was used as a rental property, which makes it sufficiently connected to interstate commerce for purposes of § 844(i).