Opinion ID: 404150
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sufficiency of the indictments

Text: 13 Appellant Williams argues that a Hobbs Act indictment which simply charges interstate commerce effects in the generic language of the statute, without any allegations of specific facts in support of that claim, is facially insufficient. As appellant correctly notes, counts 1 and 2 of this indictment did not set forth any specific facts which would establish the interstate commerce element of the charged offenses. 5 The indictment alleged that the defendants' acts affected interstate commerce, but it did so without providing any evidentiary detail. The question now before us is whether the district court erred in refusing to dismiss such an indictment. 14 Rule 7(c), F.R.Crim.P., states that federal indictments must provide a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offenses charged. However, this does not mean that the indictment must set forth facts and evidentiary details necessary to establish each of the elements of the charged offense. As Judge Rubin has stated: 15 An indictment, to be sufficient, must allege that the defendant committed each of the essential elements of the crime charged so as to enable the accused to prepare his defense and to invoke the double jeopardy clause in any subsequent prosecution for the same offense ... It is not necessary for the indictment to go further and to allege in detail the factual proof that will be relied upon to support the charges. 16 United States v. Crippen, 579 F.2d 340, 342 (5th Cir. 1978). 17 As a general rule, an indictment which alleges an element of the charged offense merely by reciting the words of the applicable statute is valid so long as the indictment alleges each of the requisite elements of the charged offense. Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2807, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974); United States v. Davis, 592 F.2d 1325, 1328 (5th Cir. 1979); United States v. Strand, 566 F.2d 530, 534 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Bermudez, 526 F.2d 89, 94 (5th Cir. 1975); United States v. Slepicoff, 524 F.2d 1244, 1247 (5th Cir. 1975). However, appellant Williams suggests that this case comes within an exception to this well-established principle, arguing that in cases where the very core of criminality depends upon a specific identification of fact, an indictment must do more than simply parrot statutory language; it may not simply recite ... generic terms but ... must descend to particulars. United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535 (5th Cir. 1979). Our question is whether an allegation of interstate commerce effects presents one of those special instances where such evidentiary detail is required. 18 In United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535 (5th Cir. 1979), we passed upon this very issue and concluded that an indictment which merely alleged interstate commerce effects in conclusory terms was not fatally insufficient. In Diecidue, a criminal defendant challenged the sufficiency of an indictment which charged the interstate commerce effects of the substantive offense merely by tracking the language of the applicable statute. As in the case sub judice, the appellants in Diecidue argued that such an indictment was insufficient because the ... effect on interstate commerce was alleged in conclusory terms, the generality of which gave the Government unfettered discretion in choosing facts with which to prove it at trial. Id. at 547. This Court rejected the appellant's arguments, specifically holding that the interstate commerce element of the charged offense could be alleged in conclusory terms. While we recognized that there were certain instances in which conclusory allegations would not be sufficient without additional evidentiary detail, we explicitly held that an allegation of interstate commerce effects did not require such a recitation of specific facts. Id. at 547. 6 In reaching this conclusion, we stressed the important distinction between a defendant's constitutional right to know what offense he is charged with and his desire to know the evidentiary details of the prosecution's case. We stated that an indictment which alleged interstate commerce effects in conclusory terms did not subject defendants to the danger of being retried for the same (crime) on merely a different theory of effect on interstate commerce, id., and that, ... an explicit discussion of the ... effect on interstate commerce would contribute virtually nothing to defendants' understanding of the nature of the offenses charged. Id. We therefore concluded that such an indictment was not insufficient. 19 We recognize that the appellants in United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535 (5th Cir. 1979), were challenging a RICO conviction, whereas in this case we are reviewing the sufficiency of a Hobbs Act indictment. However, this distinction is of no consequence for the purposes of our analysis. Both RICO and Hobbs Act prosecutions require a showing of interstate commerce effects. Diecidue held that a RICO indictment may allege interstate commerce effects in merely conclusory terms. We can see no reason why the same rule should not apply to Hobbs Act indictments. 7 20 As we have stated, the reasoning set forth in Diecidue is wholly applicable in the instant case. The indictments here in question adequately informed Mr. Williams of the nature of the charges he faced. He was not subjected to the danger of being retried for the same crime on merely a different theory of interstate commerce. Moreover, the defendant in this case was not left unprepared or surprised at trial, for the government did provide defense counsel with access to all of the evidence actually used to establish the interstate commerce effects of the defendant's extortionate conduct. 8 21 Diecidue is not deciduous, it lives on as perennial precedent until pruned by higher authorities. The ratio decidendi of the non-deciduous Diecidue controls our decision here. An indictment which alleges the interstate commerce element of a federal offense in conclusory terms, without setting forth evidentiary detail, is not insufficient. 22