United States v. West’s Empirical Analysis
22 F.3d 586 · 1994
Citation profile
58 federal appellate · 2 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 80 later decisions — most recently March 2024 · most notably United States v. Cisneros-Gutierrez (2008), United States v. Flores (1995)
58 federal appellate · 2 district ·
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 11 U.S.C. § 548 · 18 U.S.C. § 152 · 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (§ 1352 of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986) · 18 U.S.C. § 371 · 31 U.S.C. § 5313
Relies on Zafiro v. United States · Cities of Charlottesville v. Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. · Santoni v. United States · Cheek v. United States · Doerr v. Doerr
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 80 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“'[t]hat the defendant 1) conducted or attempted to conduct a financial transaction, 2) which the defendant knew involved the proceeds of unlawful activity, 3) with the intent [either] to promote or further unlawful activity' or to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of the unlawful activity.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Here, the critical issue at trial was whether West acted in good faith and relied upon the advice of counsel. Thus, the district court correctly allowed West to testify that he at all times relied in good faith upon the advice of experts and both Palmer and Reeder to testify that they advised West to structure the transactions as he did.... Consequently, West’s defense — that he in good faith relied on the advice of counsel— was squarely placed before the jury. Because the typical juror is qualified to determine intelligently and to the best degree possible both the reasonableness of a client relying upon the advice of an attorney and accountant retained to render such advice and whether the client did so in good faith after making full disclosure, expert testimony as to the legal basis underlying the advice — i.e., the reasonableness of their interpretation of the provisions of the Texas Homestead Act — would not have assisted the jury.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“West contends that such testimony would have demonstrated that he at all times acted in good faith, and thus was relevant to the issue of his intent. Here, West’s good faith defense was centered upon his asserted reliance on the advice of his bankruptcy counsel — Philip Palmer — -and his accountant — Nathan Reeder. Although both Palmer and Reeder testified they advised West to structure the Dondi Farms, Broadway building, and Frisco house transactions as he did and that the transactions were lawful, West contends that the district court erred in not allowing him to demonstrate “that it was reasonable to follow [the advice supplied Palmer and Reeder] — a showing that of necessity would include some explanation of ... what a Texas homestead exemption was, and how one could lawfully preserve it, under bankruptcy law.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.