United States v. Rodriguez-Moreno
United States Supreme Court
526 U.S. 275 (1999)
Rodriguez-Moreno (defendant) held a drug middleman, Avendano, hostage across multiple states while searching for a dealer who'd stolen drugs, traveling from Texas through New Jersey and New York before reaching Maryland, where he was given and briefly pointed a pistol at Avendano's neck before Avendano escaped. Charged in New Jersey with kidnapping and using a firearm during a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), Rodriguez argued venue in New Jersey was improper because the government only proved gun use occurred in Maryland; the appellate court agreed, applying a "verb test" holding venue proper only where the gun was actually used or carried.
Whether, where a defendant is charged with violating a statute that prohibits certain conduct from occurring during and in relation to a crime of violence, venue is proper only in a district where the prohibited conduct and underlying crime of violence coincide.