US v. Chong

No. 03-10222 (8-18-05). The 9th holds that a conviction for murder-for-hire requires the payment for such an act (think of it as "consideration" for an offing). In this case, a Chinese gang has aspirations of expanding its market share, and embarked upon a hostile take-over of a Boston enterprise. The henchmen that were sent to do the deed went, it seems, for the good of the cause. The government arguess that there was evidence that each was paid $100 and that it was known that their actions would be rewarded. The 9th acknowledges that their actions might advance the objective,and there might be many reasons why they did what they did, but the statute of murder-for-hire 18 USC 1958 requires compensation for the element to be satisfied and insufficient evidence was presented. (Concerning underlings desire to please their leader, see King Henry II's wistful thinking out loud to his knights regarding Archbishop Thomas Beckett: "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest." While Henry was excommunicated for the murder, he was eventually rehabilitated and brought back into the fold). The 9th affirmed the other numerous RICO convictions in a memorandum.