From our private database of 22,300+ case briefs...
Smith v. United States
United States Supreme Court
508 U.S. 223, 113 S.Ct. 2050, 124 L.Ed.2d 138 (1993)
Facts
John Smith (defendant) and his companion traveled from Tennessee to Florida, where they planned to purchase cocaine for dealing. Smith’s acquaintance, Deborah Hoag, joined Smith, his companion, and a drug dealer in a motel room. In the meeting, Smith discussed his interest in selling his MAC-10 firearm, an automatic weapon. Hoag was an informant for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and tipped off law enforcement to Smith’s plans. An undercover officer posing as a pawnshop dealer called on Smith at the motel room. Smith showed his MAC-10 to the officer and offered to trade the gun for two ounces of cocaine. Smith was later convicted in district court of violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), which prohibited knowingly using a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. Smith appealed his conviction. The court of appeals affirmed, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (O’Connor, J.)
Dissent (Scalia, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 518,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 22,300 briefs, keyed to 984 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.
