U.S. v. Yokley

Decision Date13 September 1976
Docket NumberNo. 76-1135,76-1135
Citation542 F.2d 300
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Anthony J. YOKLEY, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Philip Van Dam, U. S. Atty., William J. Richards, Asst. U. S. Atty., Detroit, Mich., David W. Elbaor, Government Regulations and Labor Section, Crim. Div., Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellant.

Thomas Jackson, F. Randall Karfonta, William L. Woodard, Detroit, Mich., for defendant-appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, PECK, Circuit Judge, and CECIL, Senior Circuit Judge.

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

This appeal presents a question of first impression in this Circuit relating to the scope of the Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951. 1 Anthony Yokley, the appellee, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan for violations of the Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act and one violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 for the transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce. This indictment was based on an armed robbery of a K-Mart Department Store in suburban Detroit on December 25, 1973. The District Court dismissed counts I and II of the indictment, ruling that the legislative intent of the Hobbs Act was to curb illegal labor activities and not to create an incursion into the criminal jurisdiction of the states. We hold that the Hobbs Act is not limited to labor activities but is aimed at racketeering activities whether labor or non-labor. We affirm the District Court on the ground that counts I and II of the indictment do not charge a racketeering offense within the scope of the statute.

The two counts dismissed by the District Court are made an Appendix to this opinion. They charge that on December 25, 1973, two men forcibly entered the suburban Detroit home of a K-Mart Department Store manager. While holding the store manager's family hostage, the intruders, later identified as Anthony Yokley and Thaniel Wells, forced the store manager to make arrangements for one of the gunmen to enter the K-Mart Store No. 4074. One man held the manager's family hostage The items taken from the K-Mart Store were the property of the S. S. Kresge Company. This company operates the chain of retail stores commonly known as "K-Mart Stores" throughout the United States. Approximately 95 per cent of the gross receipts and expenditures of the store were attributable to sales and purchases of goods manufactured at out-of-state locations and transported in interstate commerce to that store. Moreover, the funds stolen from the store were intended to finance the daily operations of the business, including the purchase of goods shipped in interstate commerce.

while the other accompanied the manager to the store where he forced him to open the store safe. After emptying the safe of currency, checks and credit card receipts, totaling $78,222.03, the other man joined his partner, who had left the store manager's home after the robbery was completed. Appellee and Wells were subsequently arrested in California after several checks, payable to the Detroit K-Mart Store, were seized from the safety deposit box of appellee in California.

In holding that the Hobbs Act was limited to labor activities, the District Court relied, in part, on dicta in two recent decisions of this court. United States v. Franks, 511 F.2d 25, 31 n. 7 (6th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 422 U.S. 1042, 95 S.Ct. 2656, 45 L.Ed.2d 693 (1975); United States v. Beck, 511 F.2d 997, 1000 (6th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 836, 96 S.Ct. 63, 46 L.Ed.2d 55 (1975). After having the benefit of briefs and oral argument of counsel, and considering the legislative history of the Act, we hold that its applicability is not limited to corrupt labor activities as held by the District Court.

The limited purpose of the Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act was to amend the Anti-Racketeering Act of 1934 2 without affecting the scope of the 1934 Act. Section 2(a) of the Act of 1934 made it unlawful to obtain or attempt to obtain money or property by the use of force or threat of force in connection with any act affecting interstate commerce. Specifically excepted from this section was "the payment of wages by a bona-fide employer to a bona-fide employee." The original bill (S. 2248) which was enacted as the 1934 Act and which passed the Senate without debate, contained no specific mention of labor or wages, but embodied a general prohibition against violence or coercion in connection with racketeering and interstate commerce. Subsequently, when fear was expressed by the American Federation of Labor that S. 2248 might result in serious injury to the legitimate activities of labor, the bill was redrafted to embody the exception. 78 Cong.Rec. 5859 (1934) (remarks of Senator Robinson); H.Rep. No. 1833, 73d Cong., 2d Sess. 2 (1934). The revised bill passed both the House and Senate without debate, when assurances were given that approval of organized labor had been obtained. 78 Cong.Rec. 10867, 11402-03 (1934).

In United States v. Local 807, 315 U.S. 521, 62 S.Ct. 642, 86 L.Ed. 1004 (1942), the Supreme Court held that persons who offered to perform services for another and who demanded and received union wages for such offer were exempted under § 2(a) of the Act from criminal liability even though their proffered services were rejected. The Court held that the determining factor was not whether the victim paid the money with the intent to buy protection, but whether the money was demanded without the intention of performing any services. 315 U.S. at 533-34, 62 S.Ct. 642.

Congressional reaction to the Local 807 decision was swift. Congressman Hobbs first introduced his bill two weeks after the filing of the opinion in Local 807. United States v. Caldes, 457 F.2d 74, 76 (9th Cir. 1972). The legislative history of the Hobbs Act shows that the sole purpose of Congress was to eliminate § 2(a) of the Anti-Racketeering Act of 1934 on which the Local 807 decision turned so as "to prevent the rendition of that sort of decision by any court in the future. . . ." 91 Cong.Rec. 11909 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Summers).

See also United States v. Green, 350 U.S. 415, 419 n. 5, 76 S.Ct. 522, 100 L.Ed. 494 (1956); 89 Cong.Rec. 3201 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Gwynne); 89 Cong.Rec. 3202 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Walter); 89 Cong.Rec. 3210 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Hancock); 91 Cong.Rec. 11847 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Lane).

Although the purpose of Congress in enacting the Hobbs Act was to curb the kind of labor racketeering that is reflected by the Local 807 case, the legislative history indicates that Congress intended the Act to apply to all illegal activities within the scope of the Act, whether labor or non-labor. The opponents of the Hobbs Act construed the elimination of the labor exception as a measure to hamper legitimate activities of organized labor. See, e. g., 91 Cong.Rec. 11848 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Lane); 91 Cong.Rec. 11901 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Celler); 89 Cong.Rec. 3201 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Celler); 89 Cong.Rec. 3207 (1945) (remarks of Congressman O'Hara). The proponents of the bill, however, were able to point out that its prohibitions were applicable to all groups. See, e. g., 89 Cong.Rec. 3201 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Hancock); 91 Cong.Rec. 11844 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Robsion and Michener); 91 Cong.Rec. 11900 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Hancock); 91 Cong.Rec. 11904 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Gwynne); 91 Cong.Rec. 11905 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Robsion); 91 Cong.Rec. 11909 (1945) (remarks of Congressman Vursell). See also United States v. Caci, 401 F.2d 664, 668 (2nd Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 917, 89 S.Ct. 1163, 22 L.Ed.2d 297 (1969); Carbo v. United States, 314 F.2d 718, 732 (9th Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 953, 84 S.Ct. 1625, 12 L.Ed.2d 498 (1964). Accordingly, we reject the reasoning of the District Court that the Hobbs Act is limited solely to illegal labor activities falling within the scope of the Act.

The determinative question to be decided, however, is whether the facts charged in counts I and II of the indictment in the instant case are within the scope of the Act. The language employed in drafting § 1951 is extremely broad. Any robbery or extortion, or an attempt or conspiracy, having a de minimis affect on interstate commerce, might be held to be punishable under the Act. See, e. g., United States v. Mazzei, 521 F.2d 639, 642 (3rd Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1014, 96 S.Ct. 446, 46 L.Ed.2d 385 (1975); United States v. Amato, 495 F.2d 545, 548 (5th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1013, 95 S.Ct. 333, 42 L.Ed.2d 286 (1974); United States v. DeMet, 486 F.2d 816, 822 (7th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 969, 96 S.Ct. 1991, 40 L.Ed.2d 548 (1974). In United States v. Enmons, 410 U.S. 396, 93 S.Ct. 1007, 35 L.Ed.2d 379 (1973), however, the Supreme Court, after examining the legislative history of the Act, held that the alleged illegal activity which was within the literal language of the statute was not within the Congressional intent.

Since the Congressional intent in enacting the Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act, as an amendment to the Anti-Racketeering Act of 1934, was "nothing more than . . . undoing the restrictive impact of (the Local 807 ) case", Enmons, supra, 410 U.S. at 408, 93 S.Ct. at 1014, it is necessary to examine the legislative history of the Act of 1934 to determine the scope of its successor, the Hobbs Act. Pursuant to a Senate Resolution of May 8, 1933, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce, the Copeland Committee, undertook an investigation of "rackets" and "racketeering" in the United States. S.Res. 74, 73d Cong., 1st Sess. (1933). After several hearings, the Committee initiated 13 bills, of which S.2248 was one. S.2248 was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee as a means for "prosecut...

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