Opinion ID: 326091
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Counts 1 and 6 (Sufficiency of Evidence)

Text: 59 In Section V of the overt acts portion of Count 1 of the indictment (conspiracy), it was alleged that Goble transported a 1967 Cadillac DeVille (sic) from Covington, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the purpose of obtaining false registration; and, in Count 6 of the indictment it was charged that Goble transported in interstate commerce a stolen 1967 Cadillac Eldorado, knowing the vehicle to have been stolen. The same vehicle was the subject of both allegations, 2 and in this appeal Goble asserts that there was no showing at trial that he transported the car in interstate commerce. 60 Testimony at trial showed that a blue 1967 Cadillac Coupe DeVille had been stolen from the Jim Tilly, Inc., used car lot in Lexington, Kentucky, on or about July 15, 1969. William Miller testified that he, Michael Collins, and appellant Raymond Shad had stolen the car and that they delivered it to appellant Goble in Covington, Kentucky for $300. Miller stated that, immediately after selling the car to Goble, he (Goble) removed the vehicle identification number plate and installed a different one. 61 On July 18, 1969, Goble sold this same automobile to one Gregory Ehlman, in Newport, Kentucky. Ehlman testified that he had met Goble at the Kentucky Ford dealership where Goble was employed as a salesman, and that when he agreed to purchase the automobile, it had Kentucky license plates, which Goble told him belonged on a car owned by Goble's wife. The two men then went together to a bank in Newport, Kentucky, so that Ehlman could finance the purchase of the Cadillac. Prior to entering the bank, Goble advised that Ehlman would have to pay eight-hundred dollars over the amount-three thousand dollars-which Ehlman could likely obtain from the bank (making Goble's take on the deal $3,800.00). Ehlman testified that Goble told him not to mention the extra sum of $800 to the banker, because he (Goble) 62 was selling these cars besides working over there at the Ford dealer and he didn't want them (the dealer and the banker) to know about him selling these cars on the side and he told me that he bought a fleet of them and he was selling them, so I figured it was a pretty good deal, he bought quite a few and they were cheaper that way. 63 Ehlman further testified that when he and Goble went into the bank 64 we sat down and Mr. Goble was right there with me ... and ... told him (the banker) the price of the car, not including the eight-hundred dollars that he told me outside not to mention when we got inside. So Mr. Knauf (the banker) was a pretty good dealer, he looked it up in his book and he financed the car and typed out the check for Mr. Goble and then we left. Then Mr. Goble-there was no tax on the car and he didn't have the title to it at the time. He said that he had to get the title and get it straightened out. Mr. Knauf (the banker) asked for the title also. So at that time we went over to Cincinnati to a Ford dealer down in the bottoms over there, I believe it was Fuller Ford, and he went in to try to get a temporary tag and came back out and he said he couldn't, 'no good' (sic) on a temporary tag there. But what the reason was I don't know. We took the car then down to my place of work in Ludlow and I talked to my boss about it. (Emphasis added) 65 Ehlman operated the Cadillac for a short time with license plates belonging to the car owned by Goble's wife but when he began having mechanical trouble with it, he traded it in at Riverside Ford (Goble's regular place of employment) in Newport, Kentucky. According to Ehlman, it was not until he traded the Cadillac for a different automobile that Goble supplied him with an Ohio title. 66 Although the number on the vehicle identification plate of the automobile purchased by Ehlman differed from the number of the car stolen from Jim Tilly, Inc., the evidence at the trial leaves no doubt that the same car was involved-i. e. the 1967 Cadillac Coupe DeVille which Goble sold was in fact the one stolen from Jim Tilly, Inc. 67 We are satisfied that the witness Ehlman's words the car referred to the stolen 1967 Cadillac Coupe DeVille which Goble sold to Ehlman, and that the words, we went over to Cincinnati, referred to a journey from Newport, Kentucky to Cincinnati, Ohio, taken together by Goble and Ehlman, in the stolen car. 68 In reviewing the sufficiency of evidence with respect to appellant's interstate transportation of the vehicle, the jury's determination must be sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to support it, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), and that view of the evidence includes inferences reasonably and justifiably to be drawn therefrom. Battjes v. United States, 172 F.2d 1, 5 (6th Cir. 1949). See also United States v. Rosinski, 487 F.2d 822, 823 (6th Cir. 1973); United States v. Milby, 400 F.2d 702, 705 (6th Cir. 1968); United States v. Decker, 304 F.2d 702, 705 (6th Cir. 1962); United States v. Berkley, 288 F.2d 713, 716 (6th Cir. 1961), cert. denied, 368 U.S. 822, 82 S.Ct. 41, 7 L.Ed.2d 27 (1961). 69 We hold that there was evidence from which the members of the jury could properly find, as they did, that the Cadillac sold by Goble to Ehlman had been stolen to the knowledge of Goble and that he joined in the interstate transportation of it.