McDonald v. United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit
89 F.2d 128 (1937)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
A group of men conspired to kidnap Edward Bremer and hold him for ransom. The men succeeded in kidnapping Bremer, transported him across state lines, and eventually exchanged Bremer for $200,000 in cash. After escaping with the ransom, the conspirators were reluctant to use the money for fear that it was marked, which it was. A few months later, McDonald (defendant), who was involved in gambling activities in the United States and Cuba, agreed with some of the conspirators to take a large amount of the ransom money to Cuba and to exchange it for unmarked money through his gambling enterprises. McDonald eventually exchanged $92,000 of the ransom money in this way. The kidnappers and McDonald were caught and indicted for various charges related to the kidnapping. McDonald was charged and convicted of conspiracy to kidnap. McDonald appealed, claiming that the kidnapping had been completed when the ransom money was paid and that his later involvement in the exchange of the ransom money therefore did not amount to conspiracy in the crime of the kidnapping.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Faris, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
