United States v. Becton’s Empirical Analysis
751 F.2d 250 · 1984
Citation profile
80 federal appellate · 2 district · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 98 later decisions — most recently May 2023 · most notably United States v. Moya-Gomez (1988), United States v. Lewis (1985)
80 federal appellate · 2 district · 3 state decisions
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 18 U.S.C. § 1952 · 21 U.S.C. § 844 (§ 404 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 21 U.S.C. § 848 (§ 408 of the Controlled Substances Act)
Relies on United States v. Lovasco · Mansion House Center South Redevelopment Co. v. United States · Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Newman Oil Co. · Anthony v. United States · Gillette Co. v. Miner
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 98 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[a]s a general rule, due process requires that the indictment give a defendant notice of each element of the charge against him so that he can prepare an adequate defense. However, if the defendant has actual notice of the charges, due process may be satisfied despite an inadequate indictment. In this case, other counts of the indictment gave Becton notice of the underlying felonies.... Significantly, Becton fails to allege that any of the felonious activities proved at trial took him by surprise. Furthermore, he did not raise this objection to the indictment before or during trial, and on appeal he raised it for the first time in his reply brief. These facts lead us to conclude that the government’s failure to specify underlying felonies in [the CCE count] of the indictment did not prejudice Becton in any way. We do not, by this opinion, necessarily approve of the government’s handling of the indictment in this case. We think it would be far preferable to list the felonies comprising the criminal enterprise in the CCE count of an indictment, thereby eliminating the potential problems suggested by Becton. However, we conclude on the facts in this case, that Bec-ton received adequate notice of the charges against him and had an opportunity to present an adequate defense.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“We note that the supervisory relationship specified in the CCE statute need not have existed with regard to the five persons at the same time, that those five persons need not have acted in concert, and that the same type of supervision need not have been exercised over each person. Furthermore, the government need not prove that the supervisor had personal contact with each person. In addition, it is irrelevant that other persons ... may have exercised supervision superior to [the defendant’s]. A defendant need not be the dominant organizer or manager of a criminal enterprise; the statute requires only that he occupy some managerial position.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“(a) Whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce or uses the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce, with intent to— (1) distribute the proceeds of any unlawful activity; or (2) commit any crime of violence to further any unlawful activity; or (3) otherwise promote, manage, establish, carry on, or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on, of any unlawful activity. and thereafter performs or attempts to perform any of the acts specified in sub-paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.”
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.