No. 21-6614

Mario Martell Spencer v. United States

Lower Court: Eighth Circuit
Docketed: 2021-12-15
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: commerce-clause criminal-law fifth-amendment hobbs-act interstate-commerce sentencing sentencing-enhancement witness-tampering
Key Terms:
FifthAmendment CriminalProcedure JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2022-01-21
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. For intrastate robberies that do not otherwise affect "commerce over which the United States has jurisdiction," 18 U.S.C. §1951(b)(3), does the Hobbs Act, in accordance with constitutional limits, only punish a robbery when the Government proves that the robbery itself affected interstate commerce?

2. Does a defendant unlawfully influence a witness for purposes of U.S.S.G. §3C1.1 when a defendant suggests to a witness with undisputed jeopardy of incriminating herself to "research" her Fifth Amendment rights, as the Eighth Circuit held here, or is such conduct lawful, as this Court suggested in Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696, 703–04 (2005)?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Hobbs Act, in accordance with constitutional limits, only punishes a robbery when the Government proves that the robbery itself affected interstate commerce

Docket Entries

2022-01-24
Petition DENIED.
2022-01-06
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/21/2022.
2021-12-30
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
2021-12-13
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 14, 2022)

Attorneys

Mario Spencer
Rabea Jamal ZayedDorsey & Whitney LLP, Petitioner
United States of America
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent