United States v. Ricky Ricardo Brown

Ricky Ricardo Brown appeals his conviction of kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201. The conviction arose from his 1977 hijacking of a bus. Brown, who had no previous criminal record, was distressed by the recent breakup of his marriage and had apparently been drinking heavily before he boarded the bus. At some point during the Spartanburg, South Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia bus trip, Brown approached the bus driver with a .38 caliber revolver and threatened to kill him if he did not continue to drive. Brown also threatened several of the passengers and fired one shot towards the…