Source: http://openjurist.org/print/188450
Timestamp: 2015-10-10 14:40:10
Document Index: 155239654

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1511', '§ 1961', '§ 1961', '§ 1', '§ 904']

555 F2d 407 United States v. M Brown L B E
Home > 555 F2d 407 United States v. M Brown L B E
555 F2d 407 United States v. M Brown L B E 555 F.2d 407
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Lonnie M. BROWN, Robert L. Newsome, James B. Finney, JulianE. Seymour, Jr., and Benjamin Clyde Cranford, Jr.,Defendants-Appellants.
No. 75-2482.
S. Phillip Brown, Macon, Ga. (Court-appointed), for Brown.
Frank K. Martin, Columbus, Ga., for Seymour.
Benjamin M. Garland, Macon, Ga. (Court-appointed), for Newsome.
Harry F. Thompson, Macon, Ga., for Cranford.
D. L. Rampey, Jr., Elberton, Ga., for Finney.
Ronald T. Knight, U.S. Atty., O. Hale Almand, Jr., Atty., Macon, Ga., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before GODBOLD and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges.*
The appellants, former officers of the Macon, Georgia, police department, were charged in a three count indictment with protecting various vice-related activities in violation of several provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (the Act).1 They were convicted following a jury trial in May 1975.2 In this appeal, appellants question the validity of the indictment, a variety of procedural and evidentiary rulings, and the final instructions to the jury. To place these issues in proper perspective and to facilitate their analysis, we shall first set forth what the indictment alleged and what the evidence at trial disclosed.
Count I of the indictment is grounded on 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) (1970), which provides:
It was alleged that appellants violated this section because, as employees of the City of Macon police department, they knowingly participated in racketeering activities from 1966 through July 1974.3 The forbidden activities were alleged to have included the solicitation and acceptance of bribes to protect gambling, prostitution and the illicit manufacture, distribution and sale of whiskey in the Macon community.4
Count II alleged a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (1970), which provides, "It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions of (sections 1962(a), (b), or (c))." It was alleged that appellants, again in their capacity as police officers, conspired to violate section 1962(c) by conducting the affairs of the police department through the pattern of racketeering activities just described.5 The conspiracy was alleged to have begun at an unknown time prior to October 15, 1970, and to have continued until the return of the indictment on March 25, 1975.
In Count III the appellants and others were charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1511 (1970)6 by conspiring to obstruct the enforcement of Georgia criminal law with the intent to facilitate an illegal lottery which was in continuous operation in excess of thirty days and involved over five persons.7 The conspiracy allegedly began at an unspecified time prior to October 15, 1970, and ended when the indictment was returned.
The evidence recounted the efforts of the appellants to protect vice-related criminal activity in the Macon community. The first witness, Shirley Dixon, the twenty-six year old daughter of a deceased moonshiner and lottery operator, Talmadge Dixon, set the stage by revealing how her father had been able to operate with police protection from the 1950's until his retirement in 1966. When she was seven or eight years old she would accompany her father on his trips every two or three weeks to the office of the Chief of Detectives, W. A. Bargeron (who committed suicide prior to the indictment), where Dixon's moonshine and lottery operations would be discussed and the Chief would be given an envelope containing from one hundred to six hundred dollars. A similar envelope would be given to appellant Seymour. Ms. Dixon also recalled a visit to a still site in 1961 where her father discussed business with appellants Seymour and Finney.
Shirley Dixon was followed by fifty prosecution witnesses through whom the Government showed the expansion of the protection racket during the 1960's as additional officers became involved and more activities were brought under its umbrella. In the mid-1960's, for example, Bessie Jordan and Thomas Williams began weekly payments to appellants Finney and Newsome to facilitate their moonshine sales. During the same period, James Hughes began paying Seymour so his prostitution business at the Dempsey Hotel could flourish. The protection continued when the business moved to the Central Hotel in 1973 and was extended to cover his involvement in the management of William Prentis Tucker's lottery operation.8 Tucker paid for protection, not only to Seymour, but also to appellants Brown and Cranford, who had become full participants in the scheme. Other illegal lotteries were allowed to operate at the same time, principally those run by Curtis Zeigler and Rudolph Flanders.
In the early 1970's a variety of organized gambling activities began to surface at places such as the Sportsman's Club, the Elk's Club, the Amvets Club, and the Sports Palace. The proprietors there also paid for the privilege of doing business. The slot machines and other gambling devices used at these establishments were manufactured and serviced by two local music companies, which in turn paid a premium to the police officers to stay in operation.9 Individuals involved in these ventures testified for the Government. Testifying, too, were operators of illicit whiskey outlets and legitimate nightclubs which sold liquor without licenses. Each witness identified one or more of the appellants as the officer he had paid in order to operate free of police interference. Pimps and prostitutes also implicated one or more of the appellants as having received dividends in cash or kind.
The accounts of these vice activities were buttressed by the testimony of several law enforcement officers. Some were former Macon police officers who had actually participated in the pay-off schemes. Others were officers who had either observed pay-offs or had declined offers to join the conspiracy. Still others were officers who had been reprimanded by Chief Bargeron or appellant Seymour for attempting to enforce the vice laws.10
The evidence demonstrated how well the appellants succeeded in providing effective protection to vice activity in Macon. The key to the entire operation was the policy instituted by Chief Bargeron and appellant Seymour11 of leaving vice law enforcement exclusively to the vice squad, where the officers were willing to provide protection. Officers assigned to other details were instructed to pass all information pertaining to vice-related crime to the vice squad. Many who did testified that their information was not acted on and that the activities they reported continued with impunity. Those who disobeyed and attempted to enforce the vice laws were reprimanded. On occasion, when an arrest had been made or contraband seized, Seymour would instruct the officer involved to try to fix the case or to arrange for the return of the contraband.
In sum, the Government's proof established the existence of an extensive protection racket through vice-squad manipulation. It was conceived in the late 1950's, grew during the 1960's, and by the early 1970's embraced a wide variety of activities. The operation was nourished by monetary payments, gifts and sexual favors to the officers, and it continued practically unabated until the federal grand jury investigation which led to the indictment in this case.
III. THE CONVICTIONS ON COUNT I
Appellants Seymour, Finney, Brown and Newsome claim that their convictions on Count I must be reversed because the indictment is defective in two respects. First, they argue that the indictment fails to charge a crime under section 1962(c) because the Macon police department is not an "enterprise" as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4) (1970).12 Second, they claim that section 1962(c) violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution13 because it operates in this case to punish the appellants for acts they committed prior to the effective date of the Act October 15, 1970. Appellants also urge reversal of the Count I convictions because of errors in the jury instructions. We will consider each of these contentions in turn.
A. The Enterprise Issue
18 U.S.C. § 1961(4) (1970) defines enterprise as "any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity." The thrust of appellants' argument is that this language cannot be construed to encompass a municipal police department. They submit that the statute on its face limits an "enterprise" to entities of a private, commercial nature and to those less formal, private groups which are "associated in fact." If this limitation does not flow from the plain meaning of the words, it is urged, resort to legislative intent should lead this court to a narrowed definition. Appellants point to the congressional hearings which, they claim, give no indication that Congress intended the term to include states, counties, cities or other political entities. Congress is said to have been concerned only with the problems posed by organized crime's attempts to infiltrate and control legitimate businesses and unions.
We are not persuaded by appellants' interpretation of section 1961(4) or their assessment of congressional intent. Initially, it should be observed that the actual language of the statute is very broad, encompassing any "legal entity" and any "group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity." It must be conceded at the very least that the Macon police department consists of a group of individuals associated in fact, and it may well be, although we need not decide, that the department even rises to the level of a "legal entity".14 Second, appellants' distinction between the public and private sectors has no foundation in the statute. In the definition, individuals and corporations are considered legal entities and, thus, enterprises. An individual, of course, may as easily be a public official as a businessman or union member. Similarly, a corporation may be either a private concern or a public or quasi-public entity such as a municipality or utility. In short, the language is broad enough to include public as well as private entities.15
If one does consider the legislative history, however, there is ample evidence to indicate that the congressional focus was not as narrow as appellants claim. The congressional statement of findings and purposes provides in part,
The Congress finds that (1) organized crime in the United States is a highly sophisticated, diversified, and widespread activity that annually drains billions of dollars from America's economy by unlawful conduct and the illegal use of force, fraud, and corruption; . . . (3) this money and power are increasingly used to infiltrate and corrupt legitimate business and labor unions and to subvert and corrupt our democratic processes; (4) organized crime activities in the United States weaken the stability of the Nation's economic system, harm innocent investors and competing organizations, interfere with free competition, seriously burden interstate and foreign commerce, threaten the domestic security, and undermine the general welfare of the Nation and its citizens . . . . Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub.L.No.91-452, § 1, 84 Stat. 922 (emphasis added).
The language in finding (3) indicates a concern clearly beyond the infiltration and corruption of legitimate businesses and labor unions by organized crime. Indeed, Congress was concerned with the impact of organized crime on the entire democratic process itself. This concern is further reflected in finding (4), which indicates a congressional awareness of the threat organized crime poses to the domestic security and the general welfare of the country. It would be anomalous for us to recognize this broad congressional statement and yet construe the word "enterprise" to encompass only those entities or groups of individuals within the private sector. Moreover, the narrow construction urged by appellants would also ignore Congress' mandate that "(t)he provisions of this title shall be liberally construed to effectuate its remedial purpose. . . ." Id. § 904. In the face of such a clear expression of legislative intent, we can find no justification for limiting the language of section 1961(4) so as to exclude individuals and entities in the public sector.
Our approach to this definition is in accord with that taken by our court in prior cases. In United States v. Hawes, 529 F.2d 472 (5th Cir. 1976), we indicated that the term "enterprise" in section 1961(4) was not to be limited to legitimate businesses, but was to be given a broad interpretation to include the illegitimate as well. Subsequently, we found an enterprise in a group of three individuals who were running rigged card games in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe hotel rooms. United States v. Morris, 532 F.2d 436, 442 (5th Cir. 1976).16 In sum, we are convinced that the statutory language, the legislative history and the case law compel the conclusion that the Macon police department is an "enterprise" within the meaning of section 1961(4).
B. The Ex Post Facto Issue
Although the effective date of section 1962(c) was October 15, 1970, the section can be applied by the Government to prosecute anyone who conducted an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity having its inception prior to that date. This is because a "pattern of racketeering activity" is deemed to exist if at least two acts of racketeering take place within ten years of each other and at least one of these acts has occurred after the effective date of the Act.17 Thus, since the last act of racketeering specified in Count I of the indictment was alleged to have occurred in July 1974, the Government was authorized to establish a "pattern of racketeering activity" by showing one or more additional acts of racketeering during the previous ten years. Indeed, the Government charged appellants with conducting the affairs of the police department through such a pattern beginning in 1966. It is this type of application of section 1962(c) that appellants contend is proscribed by the ex post facto clause. The Government's response is, as might be expected, that section 1962(c) is saved from the operation of the clause because a conviction cannot be obtained unless it is established that an act of racketeering occurred after the section's effective date.
The Supreme Court has defined an ex post facto law "as one 'that makes an action done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent when done, criminal; and punishes such action,' or 'that aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed.' "18 It was obviously in an effort to avoid the ex post facto problem that Congress, in defining "pattern of racketeering activity," required that at least one illegal act occur after the effective date of the Act.19 This feature has quite properly been held to save the statute from running afoul of the ex post facto clause. United States v. Campanale, 518 F.2d 352 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1050, 96 S.Ct. 777, 46 L.Ed.2d 638 (1976). See also United States v. Wechsler,392 F.2d 344 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 392 U.S. 932, 88 S.Ct. 2283, 20 L.Ed.2d 1389 (1968).
Here, several acts of racketeering were alleged to have occurred after October 15, 1970, and the jury was specifically instructed that to convict it must have been shown that the accused was involved in the commitment of at least one act of racketeering after that date.20 Thus, we are convinced that Count I did not fall within the proscription of the ex post facto clause.
Of the various issues arising from the court's charge on Count I, the most serious is the challenge to the use of the so-called Holland charge,21 which instructs the jury that it has a duty to reconcile, if it can, the testimony of all witnesses so that each shall have spoken the truth. Initially the Holland court held that this instruction was reversible error, for it incorrectly stated the jury's duty in assessing testimony and impermissibly invaded the province of the jury as the ultimate fact-finder. On rehearing, however, the court concluded that in viewing the charge as a whole the error was harmless. In reaching this conclusion, the court pointed to the fact that a number of other instructions were given which offset the damage done by the improper instruction. We have since reaffirmed the principle that, where other portions of the instructions cure the error, the conviction will be affirmed. United States v. McDuffie, 542 F.2d 236, 239-40 (5th Cir. 1976).
Here the same "duty to reconcile" charge was given verbatim that was given in Holland; however, as in Holland and McDuffie, the jurors were also charged that they were the sole judges of the facts, the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses and that nothing the court said was intended to interfere with their exclusive responsibility to determine the factual issues in the case. These qualifying instructions, coupled with the overwhelming evidence of guilt, lead us to conclude that, as in Holland and McDuffie, the error here was harmless.
The other challenges to the court's instructions on Count I are without merit,22 and, as the errors affecting Counts II and III (discussed infra) did not prejudice the appellants' trial on Count I, the convictions on Count I are affirmed.
IV. THE CONVICTIONS ON COUNT II
In the attack on their convictions under Count II of the indictment, appellants once again argue that the charge, as framed, contravened the ex post facto clause. They also claim prejudicial error in the manner in which the trial judge received evidence relating to events which took place prior to the effective date of the Act. While appellants' ex post facto arguments and their evidentiary objections were inartfully made at best, we are convinced that reversible error occurred and that the convictions must be set aside.
A. The Ex Post Facto Issue
Count II charged a conspiracy to violate section 1962(c). It alleged that the conspiracy was formed at a time prior to October 15, 1970, the effective date of the statute under which the appellants were charged, and that it continued until the return of the indictment. In addition to this allegation as to the conspiracy's inception, Count II went on to state that an object of t