United States v. Shabani

PETITIONER: United States
RESPONDENT: Shabani
LOCATION: Arkansas General Assembly

DOCKET NO.: 93-981
DECIDED BY: Rehnquist Court (1986-2005)
LOWER COURT: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

CITATION: 513 US 10 (1994)
ARGUED: Oct 03, 1994
DECIDED: Nov 01, 1994

ADVOCATES:
Dennis P. Riordan - on behalf of the Respondent
Richard H. Seamon - on behalf of the Petitioner

Facts of the case

Question

Audio Transcription for Oral Argument - October 03, 1994 in United States v. Shabani

Audio Transcription for Opinion Announcement - November 01, 1994 in United States v. Shabani

William H. Rehnquist:

The opinion of the court in number 93-981, United States against Shabani will be announced by Justice O'Connor.

Sandra Day O'Connor:

This case comes to this court on writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

We took the case to resolve rather a lopsided conflict among the Courts of Appeals.

In the opinion filed today we hold that the drug conspiracy statute § 21 U. S. C. § 846 does not require the government to prove that a conspirator under the Drug Conspiracy Law has committed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Unlike the general conspiracy statute § 846 follows the common law definition of conspiracy which requires only that the conspirators enter into an agreement to commit an unlawful act.

Accordingly the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.

The opinion is unanimous.