U.S. v. Wrobel

Record contained sufficient evidence to support jury’s guilty verdict on charge that defendants conspired to obstruct and attempted to obstruct commerce by robbery in violation of Hobbs Act. Record showed that: (1) defendants planned instant robbery and took substantial steps to effectuate robbery by traveling to New Jersey to rob diamond merchant, who possessed diamonds that were mined outside United States; and (2) under “depletion of assets” theory, defendants planned and intended to rob diamond merchant, whom they believed was actively engaged in buying and selling diamonds, where said robbery would have effect of curtailing diamond merchant’s potential to purchase and sell assets that had moved through interstate commerce. Ct. rejected defendants’ argument that govt. failed to prove that individual whom they intended to rob was actually diamond merchant, since any alleged factual impossibility or mistake in fact is not defense to instant attempt crime. Also, Ct. did not err in admitting diamond expert for purposes of providing relevant testimony regarding why defendants could have believed that diamond merchant would have diamonds in his possession at time of planned robbery.