## Facts

- FBI surveillance (including video and audio recording) of a Detroit building identified an illegal dice game.
- Thirteen individuals were charged with conducting an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1955 and conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371.
- After three days of trial, eight codefendants (including the lessor, the operator, dealers, and watchmen) pleaded guilty.
- Five remaining defendants waived a jury; four were acquitted as “mere bettors.”
- Evidence showed Buster Franklin Merrell regularly served coffee to bettors during gambling sessions and, afterward, performed cleanup tasks (stacking tables and chairs, sweeping, cleaning ashtrays, and resetting furniture).
- Merrell was convicted of the substantive § 1955 offense but acquitted of conspiracy.
- The Sixth Circuit affirmed, applying a standard that a person “conducts” the business if he performs any act, duty, or function “necessary or helpful” to operating the enterprise.
- The Supreme Court denied Merrell’s petition for certiorari; Justice White, joined by Justices Brennan and Marshall, dissented from the denial.

## Issues

1. Whether limited service and janitorial tasks (serving coffee and cleaning up) constitute “conduct[ing]” an illegal gambling business under 18 U.S.C. § 1955.
2. Whether § 1955 liability extends to acts merely “helpful” to the enterprise, or instead requires performance of a function “necessary” to the illegal gambling business and actual involvement in the gambling operation.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court denied certiorari; no merits decision issued and the Sixth Circuit judgment remained in effect.
- Justice White’s dissent argued certiorari should be granted due to an asserted circuit conflict on the meaning of “conducts” in § 1955.
- The dissent criticized the Sixth Circuit’s “necessary or helpful” test as broader than a “necessary” standard and as risking conviction of peripheral service workers.
- The dissent reasoned that a worker functioning solely as a waiter/janitor should not be treated as a “conductor” of the gambling business, analogizing to decisions excluding similarly situated service roles.

## Legal Principles

- A denial of certiorari is a procedural disposition and does not decide the case on the merits.
- Under the Sixth Circuit approach applied in this case, § 1955 can reach individuals who perform any act “necessary or helpful” in operating the illegal gambling enterprise.
- The dissent articulated a narrower reading: “conducts” should require a function “necessary” to the illegal gambling business and some actual involvement in the gambling operation, excluding roles functioning solely as service support.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari left standing a broad application of § 1955 in the Sixth Circuit, while the dissent argued the case illustrated an overinclusive “necessary or helpful” standard and warranted review to clarify whether peripheral service work amounts to “conducting” an illegal gambling business.


Merrell v. United States, 463 U.S. 1230 (1983)