UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLEE,
v.
RUSSO, ET AL., DEFENDANTS. APPEAL OF JOSEPH CORRAO, A/K/A "JOE BUTCH", DEFENDANT

2d Cir. | 1990-06-28
Nos. 1008, Docket 89-1503
Before FEINBERG, PRATT, and WALKER, Circuit Judges.
906 F.2d 77 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1990) Negative Treatment
Cited by 21 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the Double Jeopardy Clause, as interpreted by Grady v. Corbin, bars a subsequent prosecution for conduct already prosecuted as a predicate act in a prior case.


Facts & Procedural History

Joseph Corrao was acquitted of a RICO conspiracy charge, one predicate act of which was obstruction of justice. He was subsequently prosecuted and con…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

Joseph Corrao appeals on double jeopardy grounds from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Shirley Wohl Kram, Judge, convicting him after a one-week jury trial of obstructing justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503, and conspiring to obstruct justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. We reverse and, at the government’s request, remand for entry of a nolle prosequi.

Corrao was initially prosecuted for a RICO conspiracy in the Eastern District of New York and was acquitted. One of the predicate acts alleged in the RICO prosecution was the identical obstruction of justice for which Corrao was later tried and convicted in the present case. In Grady v. Corbin, — U.S.-, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990), decided after this appeal was argued, the Supreme Court ruled that “the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a subsequent prosecution if, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in that prosecution, the government will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted.” Id. at-, 110 S.Ct. at 2085.

We directed the parties to submit letter briefs addressing the impact of Grady on the present case. In its letter brief, the government conceded that prosecution of the obstruction of justice charges in the Southern District following acquittal of the RICO conspiracy in the Eastern District was inconsistent with the “conduct” test announced in Grady. The government therefore moved to remand this case to the district court for the purpose of entering a nolle prosequi. We grant the government’s motion, reverse the judgment of conviction, and remand the case to the district court for entry of a nolle prosequi.

So ordered.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw