Merrell v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
463 U.S. 1230 (1983)
FBI surveillance of a Detroit building revealed an illegal dice game, leading to charges against 13 people, including Merrell (defendant), for violating 18 U.S.C. section 1955 and conspiracy. Eight co-defendants pleaded guilty, and four of the five who went to trial were acquitted as mere bettors. The evidence against Merrell showed only that he served coffee to bettors during gambling sessions and afterward stacked tables and chairs, swept the floor, and cleaned ashtrays. He was convicted of the substantive section 1955 offense but acquitted of conspiracy, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed his conviction using a broad "necessary or helpful" standard for what counts as conducting a gambling business.
Whether the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to resolve a circuit conflict over what conduct satisfies the "conducting" requirement of the federal illegal-gambling-business statute, 18 U.S.C. section 1955.