Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/196/283/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 10:32:22+00:00

Document:
The facts alleged in the indictment showed a case that is covered by the provisions of § 1782, Rev.Stat.
Whether a Senator of the United States has waived his privilege from arrest and whether such privilege is personal only or given for the purpose of always securing a representation of his state in the Senate are not frivolous questions, and, if properly raised in the court below and denied, this Court has jurisdiction to issue the writ of error directly to the district court, and then to decide the case without being restricted to the constitutional question.
It is not the habit of this Court to decide questions of a constitutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case.
absolute owner of the checks so deposited, and not the agent of the customer to collect them; this relation is not, in the absence of any special agreement, affected by the right of the bank against the customer, and his liability therefor in case the checks are not paid.
The payment of the checks to defendant in this manner was a payment at Washington, and if any crime was committed, it was not at St. Louis, and, in view of the evidence, it was error to submit to the jury any question as to where the payment was made, and those counts in the indictment which were based on allegations of payments in St. Louis should have been dismissed, as the court had no jurisdiction thereover.
This is not the case of the commencement of a crime in one district and its completion in another so that the court in either district would have jurisdiction under § 731, Rev.Stat.
Certain of defendant's requests to charge which were allowed were referred to as mere abstract propositions of law and not otherwise specifically charged; after having been out thirty-eight hours, the jurors returned and were instructed by the court in relation to their duty as jurors, and the foreman having stated in answer to questions of the court that they stood eleven to one, the court charged that it was their duty to agree if possible. Counsel then asked the court to instruct that defendant's requests to charge which had been allowed were as much a part of the charge as that which emanated from the court. This was refused. Held error, and, under the circumstances of this case, it was a matter of right, and not of discretion, that the jury should be charged as to the character of the requests.
When a jury is brought before the court because unable to agree, it is not material for the court, in order to instruct it as to its duty and the propriety of agreeing to understand the proportion of division of opinion, and the proper administration of the law does not require or permit such a question on the part of the presiding judge.
The plaintiff in error having been convicted in the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Missouri of a violation of the Revised Statutes of the United States, sec. 1782, and set forth in the margin, * has brought the case here directly from that court by writ of error.
class of services and upon the same matter them pending before the Post Office Department. The defendant demurred to the indictment on the ground that it stated no crime, and that it showed that the United States had no interest, direct or indirect, in the matter before the Post Office Department, inasmuch as the interest of the United States, under the statute, must be either a pecuniary or property interest, which may be favorably or unfavorably affected by action sought or taken in the given matter pending before the Department. The demurrer was overruled, and the defendant then pleaded not guilty.
that, when an offense against the United States is begun in one judicial circuit and completed in another, it shall be deemed to have been committed in either, and may be dealt with, etc., in either district, in the same manner as if it had been actually and wholly committed therein. Counsel for defendant also contend that the case involves the construction and application of section 6 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States, providing that senators and representatives shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same. These questions were raised in the court below. Whether the defendant waived his alleged privilege of freedom from arrest as senator would probably depend upon the question whether the offense charged was in substance a felony, and if so, was that privilege a personal one only, and not given for the purpose of always securing the representation of a state in the Senate of the United States. However that may be, the question is not frivolous, and in such case the statute grants to this Court jurisdiction to issue the writ of error directly to the district court, and then to decide the case without being restricted to the constitutional question. Horner v. United States, 143 U. S. 570. It is not the habit of the Court to decide questions of a constitutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case. Having jurisdiction to decide all questions in the case on this writ of error, we deny the motion for a certiorari, and proceed to an examination of the record.
dissent from that view, and are of opinion that the statute does not cover the case as alleged in the indictment.
Second. Assuming that the statute applies to the facts stated in the indictment, a further question arises upon the general merits of the case, whether there was sufficient evidence of guilt to be submitted to the jury, and a majority of the Court (the same Justices concurring) are of opinion that there was, or are not prepared to say there was not, and the same minority dissent from that view, and are of opinion that there was no evidence whatever upon which to found a verdict of conviction.
There are, however, other questions remaining, which we now proceed to discuss on the theory that the statute covers the case.
Third. The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth counts of the indictment aver the receipt by the defendant of the different checks described at the City of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, and the payment of the money thereon to the defendant at St. Louis, in that state, as compensation for services theretofore performed by the defendant for the Rialto Company. It may be assumed that, on the facts averred in these various counts in the indictment upon the checks, each of them was good. It turned out, however, on the trial that these averments of the place where the different checks were received and paid were not true, but, on the contrary, the evidence was wholly undisputed that each of them was received by the defendant in the City of Washington, D.C., and by him there indorsed and deposited with the Riggs National Bank, of Washington, D.C., and that they were afterwards duly paid by the Commonwealth Trust Company at St. Louis, Missouri; that the amount of each was in each instance immediately credited by the Riggs National Bank to the account of the defendant with the bank, and the cashier testified that the defendant had the right, immediately after the credit was made, to draw out the whole, or any portion thereof, without waiting for the payment of the check at St. Louis.
"The government claims that the compensation referred to in this count was sent to the accused by the Rialto Grain & Securities Company, in the form of a check drawn by it on the Commonwealth Trust Company, payable to the order of the accused, by mail; that he received the check representing this compensation at Washington, in the District of Columbia, and then and there indorsed the check, deposited it to his own credit in the Riggs National Bank at Washington; that the last-mentioned bank afterwards forwarded the check by and through its correspondents to St. Louis for payment by the Commonwealth Trust Company, upon which it was drawn, and that the Riggs Bank and its correspondents in all this matter became and were the agents of the accused for securing this money, and when the money called for by the check was finally paid at St. Louis, Missouri, by the trust company on which it was drawn, it amounted to a payment of that money to the accused at St. Louis, Missouri. This suggests an important feature of the case for the reason that, unless it be true that the accused received the money represented by and paid on this check at St. Louis, this Court would have no jurisdiction to try the case."
"The Constitution of the United States confers upon the accused in every criminal case the right to be tried by an impartial jury of a state and district where the crime shall have been committed."
in this Court on this sixth count. Accordingly, it becomes your duty to ascertain and find from the evidence what were the true relations between the accused and the Washington bank when he deposited the check in question with that bank, and what was the understanding between them as to their respective rights in relation to the check and the proceeds thereof. On this question, the court charges you as follows:"
"If it was the intent and understanding of the Washington bank and the accused at the time the latter deposited the check in question with the former, that the bank should forward the same in the usual course, by and through its correspondents to St. Louis, for payment, and that in so doing it and its correspondents should act only as the agent of the accused for that purpose, then the final payment by the Commonwealth Trust Company at St. Louis, of the check to the correspondents of the Washington bank, would amounts in law to a payment in St. Louis, as charged in the sixth count, of the amount of the check to the accused. If, on the contrary, it was the understanding and intent of the Washington bank and the accused at the time the latter deposited the check in question with the former that the bank should become the purchaser of the check, and should thereafter be the absolute owner thereof, and not act as just indicated, as the agent of the accused in the collection of the check, then the payment at St. Louis by the Commonwealth Trust Company would amount in law to a payment to the Washington bank, and not to the accused. In the latter event, no crime would have been committed by the accused in this district by reason of the check referred to in the sixth count of the indictment."
"In order to find the accused guilty on the sixth county, you must find from the evidence, by the same measure of proof as is required in all criminal cases, that the check referred to in the sixth count was deposited by the accused in the Washington bank for collection, and that the bank was to act in collecting the same, as the agent of the accused, and not as the owner of the check in question. "
"In determining this issue, you are at liberty to and should consider all the evidence adduced; the actual transaction as it occurred at the Riggs Bank, where the check was deposited, the check itself, and all its indorsements, the rights and privileges which were immediately accorded the accused upon making the deposit, the actual conduct and purpose of the Riggs Bank in forwarding the check to St. Louis for payment, the customary conduct and usage of that bank and all banks in Washington at the time, so far as shown by the proof. And if, from all these facts and all other facts disclosed by the proof, you find that the check in question was in fact deposited by the accused, with the intent and knowledge on his part, as well as on the part of the bank itself, that it should be forwarded to St. Louis for collection for account of the accused, the bank and its correspondents acting as agents for the accused to make such collection, you should find that, when the same was actually paid to the last indorser on the check at St. Louis by the trust company upon which it was drawn, it was, in contemplation of law, paid to the accused himself."
"If, on the contrary, you find from the evidence that the accused and the Riggs Bank at the time of the deposit of the check in question, understood and intended that the bank should become the purchaser of the check, and be its absolute owner, then the subsequent forwarding of it to St. Louis for payment was the act of the bank itself, and the final payment of the check by the trust company at St. Louis was a payment, not to the accused, but to the bank, and it such is the fact your verdict on the sixth count must be not guilty."
than such as the law makes from the transaction detailed, which was itself proved by uncontradicted evidence offered by the government itself. In the absence of any special agreement that the effect of the transaction shall be otherwise (and none can be asserted here), there is no doubt that its legal effect is a change of ownership of the paper, and that the subsequent action of the bank in taking steps to obtain payment for itself of the paper which it had purchased can in no sense be said to be the action of an agent for its principal, but the act of an owner in regard to its own property. The learned judge, in his charge to the jury, did not, indeed, deny the general truth of this proposition, but he left it to the jury to determine whether there was not an agreement or understanding made or arrived at by the parties at the time the checks were taken by the defendant to the bank, which altered the legal effect of the transaction actually proved. This, as we have said, there was not the slightest evidence of, and it was error to submit that question to the jury.
Foley v. Hill, 2 Clark & Finnelly 28, and they all concurred in the opinion that the relation between a banker and customer, who pays money into the bank or to whose credit money is placed there, is the ordinary relation of debtor and creditor, and does not partake of a fiduciary character, and the great weight of American authorities is to the same effect."
When a check is taken to a bank, and the bank receives it and places the amount to the credit of a customer, the relation of creditor and debtor between them subsists, and it is not that of principal and agent. This principle is held in Thompson v. Riggs, 5 Wall. 663, and also in Marine Bank v. Fulton Bank, 2 Wall. 252. See also Scammon v. Kimball, 92 U. S. 362, 92 U. S. 369; Davis v. Elmira Savings Bank, 161 U. S. 275, 161 U. S. 288.
"The general doctrine that, upon a deposit made by a customer, in a bank, in the ordinary course of business, of money, or of drafts or checks received and credited as money, the title to the money, or to the drafts or checks, is immediately vested in, and becomes the property of, the bank, is not open to question. Commercial Bank v. Hughes, 17 Wend. 94; Metropolitan Nat. Bank v. Loyd, 90 N.Y. 530. The transaction, in legal effect, is a transfer of the money, or drafts, or checks, as the case may be, by the customer to the bank, upon an implied contract on the part of the latter to repay the amount of the deposit upon the checks of the depositor. The bank acquired title to the money, drafts, or checks on an implied agreement to pay an equivalent consideration when called upon by the depositor in the usual course of business."
City of New York, 23 N.Y. 289 and other cases cited in the opinion]."
"It is true no express agreement was made transferring the check for so much money, but it was delivered to the bank, and accepted by it, and the bank gave Murray credit for the amount, and he accepted it. That was enough. The property in the check passed from Murray, and vested in the bank. He was entitled to draw the money so credited to him, for, as to it, the relation of debtor and creditor was formed, and the right of Murray to command payment at once was of the very nature and essence of the transaction. On the other hand, the bank, as owner of the check, could confer a perfect title upon its transferee, and therefore when, by its directions, the plaintiff received and gave credit for it upon account, it became its owner, and entitled to the money which it represented. . . . If, as the appellant insists, the check had been deposited for a specific purpose -- for collection -- the property would have remained in the depositor; but there is no evidence upon which such fact could be established, nor is it consistent with the dealings between the parties, or with any of the admitted circumstances."
"These show that it was the intention of both parties to make the transfer of the check absolute, and not merely to enable the bank to receive the money upon it as Murray's agent."
"So when, without more, a bank receives upon deposit a check indorsed without restriction, and gives credit for it to the depositor as cash in a drawing account, the form of the transaction is consistent with and indicates a sale, in which, as with money so deposited, the check becomes the absolute property of the banker."
to forward such checks for collection is a plain custom to forward for collection for itself. The only liability of defendant was on his indorsement. All this made a payment at Washington, and as a result there was a total lack of evidence to sustain the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth counts of the indictment. The court should have therefore directed a verdict of not guilty on those counts.
This is not a case of the commencement of a crime in one district and its completion in another, so that, under the statute, the court in either district has jurisdiction. Rev.Stat. section 731. There was no beginning of the offense in Missouri. The payment of the money was in Washington, and there was no commencement of that offense when the officer of the Rialto Company sent the checks from St. Louis to defendant. The latter did not thereby begin an offense in Missouri.
"asked by counsel for the defendant to give certain declarations here, and while I think they have, in the main, been covered by the charge, yet I will give them to you."
"These are abstract propositions of law, which I give in connection with the charge, as perhaps more fully amplifying it. I am willing to give them, inasmuch as they are asked, and they contain general propositions of law."
"I gather from this letter, Mr. Foreman, what I may be incorrect about. I would like to ask the foreman of the jury how you are divided. I do not want to know how many stand for conviction, or how many for acquittal, but to know the number who stand the one way and the number who stand another way. I would like the statement from the foreman."
"The Foreman: Eleven to one."
"The Court: The jury stand eleven to one. I gather that from the communication. In the light of that fact, I feel constrained to make a statement to you, and in making it to use the language of the Supreme Court of the United States as found in Allen v. United States."
"The Court: If you will wait a moment, the jury may retire."
"Mr. Krum: I beg your Honor to state to the jury --"
"The Court: Stop a moment, and then I will hear your argument. I will, after the jury retire, hear counsel if they have anything to say, or any exceptions they may wish to take to the charge."
he court here handed the foreman of the jury the charge and instructions heretofore referred to, and directed the jury to retire for further consideration of their verdict.
statements, which had the effect to deprive them of something of their force, when they were not intended as mere abstractions, and were believed by counsel to have specific reference to the case, and those instructions as well as others ought to be called to the attention of the jury. We must except here as earnestly as it is in our power to do, against the charge of the court made now."
"The Court: If you except, I will allow the exception."
"Mr. Krum: What I desire to do in the presence of the jury was to ask your Honor to indicate to the jury, as it was evident the jury did not understand, that it was a fact that the requests to charge which were recognized by the court, acquiesced in by the court, and given by the court, were just as much a part of your Honor's charge as that which the court read as emanating from the court itself."
"The Court: I did tell the jury so on Saturday."
"Mr. Krum: I submit it is apparent that they do not understand that they are just as much to be controlled by that part of the instructions as any other part. That is evident from the inquiry made."
"The Court: The court has endeavored to answer the only request made by the jury, and that is all I think should be done."
inability to agree, counsel for defendant immediately saw the extreme importance of having the requests to charge made to the court regarded by the jury, not as abstract or general propositions of law, but as requests which affected the case then on trial with reference to the facts proved in the case, and so, before the jury again retired, they commenced to propound their requests upon the subject to the court, but the court, before listening to them, instructed the jury to retire, and then followed the colloquy above set forth between court and counsel.
Balanced as the case was in the minds of some of the jurors, doubts existing as to the defendant's guilt in the mind of at least one, it was a case where the most extreme care and caution were necessary in order that the legal rights of the defendant should be preserved. Considering the attitude of the case as it existed when the jury returned into court for further instructions, we think the defendant was entitled, as matter of legal right, to the charge asked for in regard to the previous requests to charge, which had been granted by the court under the circumstances stated, and it was not a matter of discretion whether the jury should or should not be charged as to the character of those requests. A slight thing may have turned the balance against the accused under the circumstances shown by the record, and he ought not to have longer remained burdened with the characterization of his requests to charge, made by the court, and when he asked for the assertion by the court of the materiality and validity of those requests which had already been made, the court ought to have granted the request.
for the court to understand the proportion of division of opinion among the jury. All that the judge said in regard to the propriety and duty of the jury to fairly and honestly endeavor to agree could have been said without asking for the fact as to the proportion of their division, and we do not think that the proper administration of the law requires such knowledge or permits such a question on the part of the presiding judge. Cases may easily be imagined where a practice of this kind might lead to improper influences, and for this reason it ought not to obtain.
Our conclusion is that the judgment must be reversed and the cause remanded to the district court of Missouri, with directions to grant a new trial.
"SEC. 1782. No senator, representative, or delegate, after his election, and during his continuance in office, and no head of a department, or other officer or clerk in the employ of the government, shall receive or agree to receive, directly or indirectly, for any services rendered, or to be rendered, to any person, either by himself or another, in relation to any proceeding, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other matter or thing in which the United States is a party, or directly or indirectly interested, before any department, court-martial, bureau, officer, or any civil, military, or naval commission whatever. Every person offending against this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned not more than two years, and fined not more than ten thousand dollars, and shall, moreover, by conviction therefor, be rendered forever thereafter incapable of holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the government of the United States."
sense, compensated for the services alleged to have been rendered in violation of the statute until, by payment of the checks by the St. Louis bank, he was relieved of all liability to the Riggs National Bank, arising from his indorsing the checks to it. The accused is to be regarded as having received at St. Louis compensation for his services because the check made in his behalf was paid there to his representative. The offense was therefore consummated at that city, and the federal court at St. Louis had jurisdiction.
Nor, in my opinion, does the record show any error in respect of instructions that was to the substantial prejudice of the accused, no error for which the judgment should be reversed.
It seems to me that, in reversing the judgment upon the grounds stated in the opinion, the Court has sacrificed substance to mere form. The result, I submit, we illustrates the familiar maxim qui haeret in litera haeret in courtice.

References: § 1782
 § 731
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