1 - Voice For The Defense Online

1court 11eM that that was snfficient evidenceto meet the intcrstatdforeign comlercerequirement for a federal murder-forhireconviet~on.As to -andtherc is ajoker in the en banc deck: Recently, ourjudges have been unable to agree oninterstate commerce issnw. This hasresulted in tie votes and orders affirmingthe judgments of tho distr~ot courts.. United Stata 1, H~cknmn, - F.3d(5th CK 1999). The defendantswere charged with violations of the~ohb's Act, I8 u.S.C. 8 1951. III a commonscene, they had robbed variousrestaurants m three different c~ties in theEastcrn District of Texas. The judgescould not agree on whether these robberiesobstn~eted, delayed, or affectedcommerce or the movement of any articlein comme~~.. Uniterl Slates v Kirk, I05 F.3d 997(5th Cir. 1997). The defendant wascharged with a violation of 18 U.S.C. $922 (o), the machine gun statute. Thejudges were unable to agree whether thepossession of machine guns had a substantialeffsct on iuterstate comllrerce.In another case which d ~d not meriten banc review, a panel of the circuitvacated the defendant's plea of gnilty ina T~tle 18 U.S.C. 5 844(i) arson caseholding that ".. .the fachtal basapresentedtothe district court dues not support afindkg that Johnson's December 1996arson of the Hopcwell United MethodistChurch resnltcd in the damagc ordestruction of a budding nscd in inter-state commerce or in any activity affbctinginterstate commerce!' United Shrmsv. Joltnson, 194 F.3d 657 (1999).In &&ma, the government hadoiTefed a written "Factnal Basis" whichcontained the following: That the defcndanthad set thc fire in thc church in aneffort to cover up past bnrglaries of thcchurch that the clmrch was insurcd by anout-of-state insurance cotupany; that theinsurance company had paid a claim on$89,000 to the church; that the chnrchwas a member of the Texas AnnualConference of the Umted MethodistChurch and contributed approx$matelysixteen percent of the money thatit collected from its congregation for theTexas Annual Confcrencc; that theTexasAnnnal Conferewe forwards the majoritvof its contr~butioas to the UnitedMethodist Church's General Counsel onFinance Administration in Evanston,Illinois; and, that these funds are distrihutcdto various ministries throughdut theworldMy only conclusion on this topic ispainft~lly uusophisticateed: If you have ahint of a sniff of a scintilla of aCommerce Clause Issue in any criminalcase in any district court within the FiflhCicu~t, file your motion and hope that--if you don't prevail in the &strict courtyougct a friendly panel. And no en bancreview. lIMPORTANTTAX NOTICEDuesjTax Noticeplease note the following: 1$36 of your annual dues($19 if a Student Member)is for a one-year subscriptionto the Voice for theDefense. and $39 of regulardues is for TCDLA legislativeprograms.Dues to TCDLA are notdeductible as a charitablecontribution but maybe deducted as an ordinaryand necessary businessexpense.Because of TCDLA'S legislativeprogram. $39 ofsustaining and regularmembership dues is notdeductible as a businessexpense.IISometimes thestrengthof one...... lies within thepowerof a group.The TCDLA long distance plan,administered by EclipseTelecommunications , is hased ongeneral economic theory -- thehigher the volume, the lower theind~vidnd cost. The TCDLAPgramis based on the idea of providingindividual companies withgroup-based purchasing power andbenetits.Our longdistauce program is as logicalas 1,2, 3.1. Endorsed by your association2. Guaranteed flat rates3. Memhers only servlceFor a quicklate comparison or moreinformation, contact an Eclipseaccount representative at 1-800.342-9287..........................Or you may also complete thefollowing infom~ation and fax to1-800-342-4240NameCompanyPhoueAvg. mo. weTCDLA 10JulyIAugu5t 2000 - Voice 13F