United States v. Kissel, 218 U.S. 601 (1910) (No. 390)

Case name: United States v. Kissel Opinion filed: 1910-12-12 Docket No.: 390 Citations: • 218 U.S. 601 • 31 S. Ct. 124 • 54 L. Ed. 1168 • 1910 U.S. LEXIS 2054 Case holding summaries: • "a conspiracy may have continuance in time" • “[W]e first will consider whether a conspiracy can have continuance in time.” • conspiracies are continuing crimes which end when abandoned or completed • "A conspiracy to restrain or monopolize trade by improperly excluding a competitor from business contemplates that the conspirators will remain in business, and will continue their combined efforts to drive the competitor out until they succeed." • "[T]he conspiracy continues up to the time of abandonment or success." • a statute of limitations question • explaining that “the conspiracy continues up to the time of abandonment or success” and because “[a] conspiracy is a partnership in criminal purposes . . . an overt act of one partner may be the act of all without any new agreement specifically directed to that act” • describing how a conspiracy continues "when the plot contemplates bringing to pass a continuous result that will not continue without the continuous co-operation of the conspirators to keep it up" • "A conspiracy to restrain or monopolize trade by improperly excluding a competitor from business contemplates that the conspirators will remain in business, and will continue their combined efforts to drive the competitor out until they succeed." • "[T]he conspiracy continues up to the time of abandonment or success." • it is the nature of the agreement rather than the time frame which controls the question of single or separate conspiracy