United States v. Rodriguez-Moreno, 526 U.S. 275, 9 (1999)

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  Next

Cite as: 526 U. S. 275 (1999)

Scalia, J., dissenting

defendant both engages in the acts making up the predicate offense and uses or carries the gun.

At the time of respondent's alleged offense, § 924(c)(1) read:

"Whoever, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime . . . for which he may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime, be sentenced to imprisonment for five years."

This prohibits the act of using or carrying a firearm "during" (and in relation to) a predicate offense. The provisions of the United States Code defining the particular predicate offenses already punish all of the defendant's alleged criminal conduct except his use or carriage of a gun; § 924(c)(1) itself criminalizes and punishes such use or carriage "during" the predicate crime, because that makes the crime more dangerous. Cf. Muscarello v. United States, 524 U. S. 125, 132 (1998). This is a simple concept, and it is embodied in a straightforward text. To answer the question before us we need only ask where the defendant's alleged act of using a firearm during (and in relation to) a kidnaping occurred. Since it occurred only in Maryland, venue will lie only there.

The Court, however, relies on United States v. Lombardo, 241 U. S. 73, 77 (1916), for the proposition that " 'where a crime consists of distinct parts which have different localities the whole may be tried where any part can be proved to have been done.' " Ante, at 281. The fallacy in this reliance is that the crime before us does not consist of "distinct" parts that can occur in different localities. Its two parts are bound inseparably together by the word "during." Where the gun is being used, the predicate act must be occurring as well, and vice versa. The Court quite simply reads this requirement out of the statute—as though there were no difference between a statute making it a crime to steal a cookie

283

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007