Court Opinion

ID: 9456204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:45:27.669251+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:53.294860
License: Public Domain

BAZELON, Chief Judge
(concurring) :
The conclusion that inconsistency among jury verdicts on the several counts of a multi-count indictment is acceptable is based in large part upon the premise that such an inconsistency would be tolerated had each count been the subject of a separate indictment and trial. Dunn v. United States, 284 U.S. 390, 393, 52 S.Ct. 189 (1932). Had appellant been tried and acquitted both of petit larceny and attempted larceny, it is clear to me that Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970) would not allow a subsequent conviction for burglary to be sustained’ upon evidence showing the larceny of which appellant had been acquitted. Similarly, if the jury in the present case had been charged with regard to attempted larceny and had returned a verdict of not guilty, I would believe the record squarely presented the question whether the rule of Dunn can survive the erosion of its premise in Ashe. However, instructions on attempted larceny were neither requested nor given, and on the evidence adduced the jury could well have found insufficient asportation to support a larceny charge even though they believed appellant intended to steal the cigarettes. That belief is not inconsistent with appellant’s conviction of burglary. Accordingly, I join the opinion of the Court except insofar as it may imply that Dunn is unaffected by Ashe.