When lies matter in fraud
Carter v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Robert E. Carter filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review a Seventh Circuit case involving a federal wire-fraud prosecution.
- What's at stake
- Carter’s challenges to the fraud rules and jury instruction in his case remain unresolved; the Supreme Court has not agreed to review them.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
He asks about the rules for materiality and fraud defenses and whether the trial court should have given his requested jury instruction; the filing does not establish that the Court agreed to hear or decided the case.
Carter’s petition asks whether the False Claims Act’s test for deciding if a false statement matters also applies to federal wire-fraud cases, and challenges the trial court’s refusal to give a requested instruction.
Question presented
1. Does the standard of materiality applied under the False Claims Act in Universal Health Services, Inc., v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 579 U.S. 176,187,136 S. Ct. 1989,195 L. Ed. 2d 348 (2016) also apply in a fraudulent inducement prosecution under the federal wire fraud statute? 2. Are fraudulent statements legally material if the victim ’ s contemporaneous conduct proves that they completely disregarded or nullified the fraudulent statements and made their decision based solely on other independent criteria, terms, or conditions? 3. After Kousisis, is the “ essential element of the bargain ” or the “ benefit of the bargain ” legitimate federal defenses to a fraudulent inducement prosecution under the federal wire fraud statute? 4. Does a federal court violate the Fifth & Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial and jury when it refuses to give a requested jury instruction based on a federal defense that the government advocated for and conceded before this court?
What happens next
The next step is for the Court to decide whether to hear the case. No argument or decision date is set.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
More questions
- What materiality questions does Carter raise?
- He asks whether the False Claims Act’s test for deciding if a false statement matters applies to wire-fraud prosecutions, and whether the victim’s conduct showed it ignored the statements and relied on other criteria.
- What jury-instruction issue does Carter raise?
- He asks whether refusing his requested instruction about a federal fraud defense violated his fair-trial and jury rights, given his claim that the government supported and conceded the defense in the trial court.
- What defenses does Carter ask the Court to consider after Kousisis?
- He asks whether the “essential element of the bargain” or “benefit of the bargain” remains a valid defense to a federal wire-fraud charge based on allegedly inducing a deal through fraud.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.