Court Opinion

ID: 9444403
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 20:59:55.374256+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:51.528784
License: Public Domain

SOPER, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
It seems unwise, especially in a case of minor importance, to make an unprecedented decision as to the kind of proof which may be received when the crucial issue is whether an individual has committed a crime. Technically the case before us is a civil action brought by the United States for the forfeiture of an automobile; but in order to succeed it was necessary for the Government to prove that the owner of the car had committed the criminal offense of using the car for the transportation of materials to be used for the illicit manufacture of distilled spirits with intention to defraud the United States. The nature of the charge is shown by the stipulation of counsel that the evidence offered in this case as to the transportation of the materials was presented to the United States Commissioner as proof that the owner of the car had committed a criminal offense in violation of §§ 3115 and 3116 of Title 26 of the Internal Revenue Code, and that subsequently the charge was dismissed at the direction of the United States Attorney.
With these facts in mind no good reason appears for relieving the Government from the obligation to prove its case by evidence which is in accord with the constitutional procedures followed in this country for the protection of persons accused of crime. In many civil and criminal cases it has been held that the commission of harmless error by the trial judge should not require a reversal; *917but except in cases relating to the keeping of a disorderly house, or the maintenance of a nuisance under the prohibition law, no case has been found which has decided that evidence of bad reputation may be admitted as proof of a crime, or that its wrongful admission does not constitute reversible error.
The dearth of authority is doubtless due to two reasons: First it is quite impossible to say that evidence of bad character does not influence the trier of facts. In the pending case there was persuasive circumstantial evidence that the truck was used by Snead to transport the materials unlawfully, but the United States Attorney, obviously not satisfied that the evidence was strong enough to convince the jury, therefore offered the evidence of Snead’s bad reputation and insisted upon its reception although the judge was somewhat doubtful of its admissibility. Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that the United States Attorney dismissed the criminal ease because he realized that he could not use the evidence of reputation at the trial thereof. A glance at the evidence admitted over the objection in the instant case demonstrates at once its harmful character. Two federal officers and a county policeman, who admitted that they had never been able to secure sufficient evidence to justify the arrest of Snead for violating the liquor laws, were allowed to testify not only that Snead had a bad reputation for dealing in untaxed whisky, but also that he was known to them as a violator of the Internal Revenue laws, and that his service station was known to them as a transfer place for violators of these laws. In this state of the record how can it be said that the jury was not impressed by the testimony of the officers of the law or that the error of the court in admitting the evidence was harmless? It is not without significance that the United States Attorney in his brief does not invoke the doctrine of harmless error, on which the court has based its decision.
In the second place it is probable that no precedent for the action of the court has been found because it has never been thought that the commission of crime may be proved by evidence of bad reputation. The requirement of the Sixth Amendment that in a criminal prosecution the accused shall enjoy the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him is fundamental to our jurisprudence, and the doctrine of harmless error may never be invoked “where the departure is from a constitutional norm”. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 764, 66 S. Ct. 1239, 1248, 90 L.Ed. 1557. This statement was made in a criminal case. But, when the controversy before the court turns on the proof of the existence of a crime, the rulings on points of evidence should not be governed by technicalities. It is far more important to safeguard constitutional principles than to save the time and effort that would be required to retry the case.