United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant- lawyer's conviction for attempted extortion is affirmed, where: 1) the district court's jury instruction that threats to testify or provide information are "wrongful" under the Hobbs Act if made with the intent to induce or take advantage of fear, was erroneous because it would necessarily lead a jury to conclude that all threats are wrongful; but 2) the error was harmless because any rational jury would have found the defendant guilty, absent the erroneous instruction, since the "means" the defendant employed to obtain property, threats to have his client cooperate with, or alternatively, impede an ongoing criminal investigation into a visa-procurement scheme, contingent on payment, were unlawful and therefore clearly wrongful under the circumstances.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/11/2014
• Published 04/11/2014

Judges

• SMITH

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel