Jamare Coats v. United States

In a prosecution for a violent crime in aid of racketeering, does the district court have the discretion to bifurcate the question of whether an underlying predicate crime occurred from the enterprise and “pattern of racketeering” elements?

Does a conviction for VICAR murder require affirmative proof that the murder was committed “for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity,” as 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1) provides and as the majority of circuits have held, or is it sufficient that the defendant was merely an associate of a gang, even where the government otherwise failed to prove the “enterprise purpose” element.