Shaw v. United States
Shaw v. United States, 580 U.S. ___ (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case that clarified the application of the federal bank fraud statute to cases where a defendant intends to only defraud a customer of the bank, rather than the bank itself.[1]
| Shaw v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued October 4, 2016 Decided December 12, 2016 | |
| Full case name | Lawrence Eugene Shaw, Petitioner v. United States |
| Docket no. | 15–5991 |
| Citations | 580 U.S. ___ (more) 137 S. Ct. 462; 196 L. Ed. 2d 372 |
| Opinion announcement | Opinion announcement |
| Case history | |
| Prior | United States v. Shaw, 781 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2015) |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Breyer, joined by unanimous |
| Laws applied | |
| 18 U.S.C. § 1344 | |
Background
Lawrence Shaw received the information from a bank account at Bank of America that belonged to a customer, Stanley Hsu. Shaw used that information to take money from Hsu but did not directly steal from the bank. Shaw was convicted under a federal statute criminalizing fraud against banks and appealed, arguing his target was its customer.
Decision
In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, the Court held that a scheme to defraud customers also deprives the bank of money in which the bank held a "property right", and criminal defendants may therefore be convicted under the federal statute for schemes to defraud bank customers.[2] However, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to determine whether the trial court administered an erroneous jury instruction.[3]
See also
References
- Shaw v. United States, No. 15–5991, 580 U.S. ___ (2016), slip. op. at 1.
- Shaw, slip. op. at 1-3.
- Shaw, slip. op. at 8-9.
External links
- Text of Shaw v. United States, 580 U.S. ___ (2016) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)