Background
The defendants were indicted for involvement with a criminal organization called Killers with Aggression, including murders and robberies. They were convicted at trial and sentenced to terms including life imprisonment. On appeal, they challenged the jury instructions on firearms charges and the sufficiency of evidence for a RICO conviction.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied plain error review to the jury instruction challenges because the defendants did not object before the jury retired to deliberate. The court concluded that the instructions, when viewed as a whole, properly informed the jury of the charges and did not omit essential elements. Regarding the RICO conviction, the court found that the evidence showed a pattern of racketeering activity with criminal episodes separated by a period of dormancy, which satisfies the continuity requirement under Supreme Court precedent.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that jury instructions are evaluated in their entirety and that RICO continuity requirements can be met by criminal conduct that includes periods of inactivity.