Marinello v. United States

Marinello v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided March 21, 2018
Full case name	Marinello v. United States
Docket no.	16-1144
Citations	584 U.S. ___ ( more )
Holding
To convict a defendant under the Internal Revenue Code's Omnibus Clause, the Government must prove the defendant was aware of a pending tax-related proceeding, such as a particular investigation or audit, or could reasonably foresee that such a proceeding would commence.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy  · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg  · Stephen Breyer Samuel Alito  · Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan  · Neil Gorsuch
Case opinions
Majority	Breyer
Dissent	Thomas, joined by Alito
Laws applied
Internal Revenue Code

Marinello v. United States, 584 U.S. ___(2018), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that, to convict a defendant under the Internal Revenue Code's Omnibus Clause, the Government must prove the defendant was aware of a pending tax-related proceeding, such as a particular investigation or audit, or could reasonably foresee that such a proceeding would commence. ^{[1] [2]}

Background

Between 2004 and 2009, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intermittently investigated Carlo J. Marinello's tax activities. In 2012, the government indicted Marinello for violating, among other criminal tax statutes, a provision in 26 U.S.C.   § 7212(a) known as the Omnibus Clause, which forbids "corruptly or by force or threats of force... obstruct[ing] or imped[ing], or endeavor[ing] to obstruct or impede, the due administration of [the Internal Revenue Code]." The judge instructed the jury that, to convict Marinello of an Omnibus Clause violation, it must find that he "corruptly" engaged in at least one of eight specified activities, but the jury was not told that it needed to find that Marinello knew he was under investigation and intended corruptly to interfere with that investigation. Marinello was convicted. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, rejecting his claim that an Omnibus Clause violation requires the Government to show the defendant tried to interfere with a pending IRS proceeding, such as a particular investigation. ^[1]

References

1. Marinello v. United States,No. 16-1144 , 584 U.S. ___(2018).
2. Morse, Susan C. (March 22, 2018). "Opinion analysis: A "nexus" requirement for the tax code's obstruction felony". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

External links

• Text of Marinello v. United States,No. 16-1144, 584 U.S. ___(2018) is available from: Justia

This article incorporates written opinion of a United States federal court. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain .