Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 2004

David Whitfield v. United States

Decided January 11, 2005. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-1293 · 543 U.S. 209 (2005) · Cited 237 times

Holding

Conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of § 1956(h), does not require proof of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

Majority · 9

Sandra Day O'Connor · delivered the opinion of the Court
Anthony McLeod Kennedy
Antonin Scalia
Clarence Thomas
David Hackett Souter
John Paul Stevens
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Gerald Breyer
William Hubbs Rehnquist

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

United States v. Shabani · 513 U.S. 10 (1994)
Nash v. United States · 229 U.S. 373 (1913)
Singer v. United States · 323 U.S. 338 (1945)
United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. · 310 U.S. 150 (1940)
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey · 524 U.S. 206 (1998)
United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
United States v. Trenton Potteries Co. · 273 U.S. 392 (1927)
Harrison v. PPG Industries, Inc. · 446 U.S. 578 (1980)
Castillo v. United States · 530 U.S. 120 (2000)
Molzof v. United States · 502 U.S. 301 (1992)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Rigsby · 580 U.S. 26 (2016)
Pasquantino v. United States · 544 U.S. 349 (2005)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Sandra Day O'Connor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).