copyright 2007 thomson delmar learning. all rights reserved. u.s. v. jimenez recio 537 u.s. 270...

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. JIMENEZ RECIO537 U.S. 270 (2003)

Case Brief

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• PURPOSE: This case examines the boundaries of conspiracy.

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• CAUSE OF ACTION: Conspiracy.

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• FACTS: The police seized illegal drugs from a truck and set up a sting operation with the assistance of the truck’s two drivers. When Jimenez Recio came to the truck and drove it away the police arrested him.

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• ISSUE: Whether a conspiracy ends automatically when the object of the conspiracy becomes impossible to achieve (i.e., the Government frustrates a drug conspiracy’s objective by seizing the drugs that its members have agreed to distribute).

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• HOLDING: No. A conspiracy does not end automatically when completion of the goal of the conspiracy becomes impossible.

Copyright 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

U.S. v. RECIO

• REASONING: The essence of a conspiracy is an agreement between the conspirators to do something illegal. The Court explains that the agreement represents a threat to the public even if the crime is not committed because of the likelihood of the conspirators committing other crimes and because the agreement makes it less likely that the conspirators will abandon commission of the crime. The Court holds that the Ninth Circuit rule to the contrary is erroneous.