United States v. Michael E. Gaudin (515 U.S. 506)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 19, 1995 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 515 U.S. 506 · 115 S. Ct. 2310
- Decided
- June 19, 1995
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. In the trial at issue here, respondent was convicted of making material false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of a federal agency, in violation of 18 U. S. C. § 1001. The question presented is whether it was constitutional for the trial judge to refuse to submit the question of “materiality” to the jury. I In the 1980’s, respondent engaged in a number of real estate transactions financed by loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).. Respondent would purchase rental housing, renovate it, obtain an inflated appraisal, and sell it to a “straw buyer” (a friend or relative), for whom respondent would arrange an FHA-insured mortgage loan. Then, as prearranged, respondent would repurchase the property (at a small profit to the straw buyer) and assume the mortgage loan. Twenty-nine of these ventures went into default. Respondent was charged by federal indictment with, among other things, multiple counts of making false statements on federal loan documents in violation of 18 U. S. C. §1001. Two of these counts charged that respondent had made false statements on HUD/FHA form 92800-5 by knowingly inflating the appraised value of the mortgaged property. The other false-statement counts charged that respondent had made…
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