Opinion ID: 359689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: House Bill 1336 Overweight Trucks.

Text: 17 On December 7, 1973, prior to the 1974 Missouri legislative session, George Burruss, a lobbyist for the Missouri Bus and Truck Association, visited defendant Rabbitt at the latter's law office. They discussed House Bill 1336 (H.B. 1336), a bill increasing the permissible weight of trucks on Missouri highways. Rabbitt was noncommittal about whether he would support H.B. 1336. Describing the meeting, Burruss testified: 18 (W)e visited awhile, and at some point Mr. Rabbitt indicated that he had added some persons to the law firm and needed some more law business from maybe the truckers or trucking industry, words to that effect. 19 At the time Burruss did not accord any particular significance to the conversation. 20 In mid-January 1974, during the legislative session, Burruss approached Rabbitt outside his office in the Capitol Building and asked why H.B. 1336 had not been assigned to a committee. Burruss testified that Rabbitt responded: Because I haven't gotten any law business yet. Rabbitt ultimately assigned this bill to an unfriendly committee in which the proposed legislation was buried. 21 Based on this series of events, Rabbitt was charged with attempted extortion under the Hobbs Act, count XV. 22