United States v. Lee

Defendants Hisan Lee, Delroy Lee, Selbourne Waite, and Levar Gayle appealed from convictions on various charges of racketeering, narcotics conspiracy, Hobbs Act conspiracy, and substantive counts of Hobbs Act robbery and associated firearms and murder counts. The evidence at trial showed that Hisan Lee, his brother Delroy Lee, and their cousin Selbourne Waite were all members of a criminal organization centered around DeKalb Avenue in the northern Bronx (the “DeKalb Avenue Crew” or the “Crew”), which engaged in extensive drug dealing, violence, robberies of drug dealers, and murders. The court rejected most of defendants' challenges to their convictions in an accompanying summary order. In this opinion, the court held that, following the Supreme Court's recent decision in Taylor v. United States, the evidence offered at trial to prove the interstate commerce element of the challenged Hobbs Act robbery convictions was sufficient to support the guilty verdicts, because the evidence permitted the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the robberies targeted suspected marijuana dealers for their drugs or the proceeds from the sale of drugs. The court also rejected defendant Gayle's due process and evidentiary challenges to his conviction on charges arising from the robbery and murder of Oneil Johnson. View "United States v. Lee" on Justia Law