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Criminal Law Keyed to Kennedy
United States v. Feola
Citation:
420 U.S. 671 (1975)Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
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- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
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- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
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- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
Feola and his codefendants arranged for a sale of heroin to buyers who turned out to be undercover agents for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. The group planned to palm off on the purchasers, for a substantial sum, a form of sugar in place of heroin and, should that ruse fail, simply to surprise their unwitting buyers and relieve them of the cash they had brought along for payment. The plan failed and an agent drew his revolver in time to counter an assault upon another agent from the rear.
They were charged with conspiracy to assault a federal officer while the officer was engaged in the performance of his duties. At the trial, the District Court, without objection from the defense, told the jurors that, in order to find any of the defendants guilty of conspiracy, they were not required to conclude that the defendants were aware that they were dealing with federal officers.
The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that the failure to charge that knowledge of the victim’s official identity must be proved in order to convict on the conspiracy charge was error.
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
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