Evans v. United States

504 U.S. 255 (1992)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D was an elected member of the Board of Commissioners of DeKalb County. An FBI agent posing as a real estate developer talked on the telephone and met with D on a number of occasions. Virtually all, if not all, of those conversations were initiated by the agent and most were recorded on tape or video. The agent sought D's assistance in an effort to rezone a 25-acre tract of land for high-density residential use. The agent handed D cash totaling $7,000 and a check, payable to petitioner's campaign, for $1,000. D reported the check, but not the cash, on his state campaign-financing disclosure form; he also did not report the $7,000 on his 1986 federal income tax return. D was charged with extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 and with failure to report income in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1). He was convicted by a jury on both counts. The trial judge gave the following instruction: “However, if a public official demands or accepts money in exchange for a specific requested exercise of his or her official power, such a demand or acceptance does constitute a violation of the Hobbs Act regardless of whether the payment is made in the form of a campaign contribution.” D was convicted and appealed. The Court of Appeals noted that the instruction did not require the jury to find that petitioner had demanded or requested the money, or that he had conditioned the performance of any official act upon its receipt. The Court of Appeals held that “passive acceptance of a benefit by a public official is sufficient to form the basis of a Hobbs Act violation if the official knows that he is being offered the payment in exchange for a specific requested exercise of his official power. The official need not take any specific action to induce the offering of the benefit.” The Supreme Court granted certiorari.