U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States v. Martin
August 21, 2026
Summary
The court affirmed Martin’s convictions on all counts, holding that the murder-for-hire statute requires reciprocal inducement but does not require a formal employment relationship or arm’s-length bargaining. The evidence permitted a reasonable jury to find that Martin’s promise to murder induced Anderson’s promise to pay and that her promise to pay induced his promise to murder. The court also upheld the jury instructions, the aiding-and-abetting instruction, and the fraud and identity-theft convictions against spillover-prejudice claims.