Opinion ID: 787685
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Maintaining or Increasing Position Element of Murder in Aid of Racketeering

Text: 52 To convict a defendant of murder in aid of racketeering, the Government must prove that he committed the charged racketeering acts for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing [his] position in a racketeering enterprise, here the Genovese Crime Family. See 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a). In defining the scope of conduct satisfying the position-related motivation requirement ..., we do not write on a blank slate. Dhinsa, 243 F.3d at 671. Although [§] 1959(a) does not define the phrase `for the purpose of ... maintaining or increasing [a defendant's] position in an enterprise,' we interpret that phrase by its plain terms, giving the ordinary meaning to its terms. Id. (citation omitted) Thus, on its face, [§] 1959 encompasses violent crimes intended to preserve [a] defendant's position in [an] enterprise or to enhance his reputation and wealth within that enterprise. Id. (emphasis omitted). And the maintaining or increasing position language in § 1959 should be construed liberally. United States v. Rahman, 189 F.3d 88, 127 (2d Cir.1999). 53 Moreover, as we explained in our recent decision in U.S. v. Pimentel, the Government is not required to prove that maintaining or increasing [a defendant's] position in the RICO enterprise was the defendant's sole or principal motive. Rather, we have consistently held that the motive requirement is satisfied if the jury could properly infer that the defendant committed his violent crime because he knew it was expected of him by reason of his membership in the enterprise or that he committed it in furtherance of that membership. 346 F.3d 285, 295-96 (2d Cir. 2003) (internal quotation marks omitted; alteration in original). 12 54 For example, we have affirmed racketeering convictions when: (i) the charged racketeering acts were committed or sanctioned by high-ranking members of an enterprise to protect the enterprise's operations and to advance the objectives of the enterprise; and, similarly, (ii) where one or more leaders of an enterprise committed the charged racketeering acts in response to a threat posed to the enterprise and to prevent the leaders' positions within the enterprise from being undermined by that threat. 13 On the other hand, we have reversed or vacated defendants' racketeering convictions in cases where the evidence showed that the murders (or other racketeering acts) were purely mercenary, Thai, 29 F.3d at 818, and in cases where the defendant was neither a member of the enterprise nor involved in its criminal activities. 14