Court Opinion

ID: 9446067
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 21:45:06.740345+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:30.488800
License: Public Domain

STEWART; Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
As pointed out in the majority opinion, the appellant could not be guilty as a principal under this criminal statute, but only as an aider' or abettor. United States v. Tornabene, supra. As also pointed out, a finding of such guilt could not be based upon the appellant’s overdrafts alone. Seals v. United States, supra. To convict, the jury had to find collaboration or association between the appellant and the bank’s cashier. United States v. Moses, supra.
It is not enough that the appellant may have wilfully created the occasion or the opportunity for the cashier’s misapplication of the funds, even though the appellant may have foreseen these consequences of his own misconduct. United States v. Peoni, 2 Cir., 1938, 100 F.2d 401, 402. Aiding and abetting “involves much more than merely ‘causing an act to be done.’ ” United States v. Chiarella, 2 Cir., 1950, 184 F.2d 903, 909.
What prevents me from joining in af-firmance of the judgment.is the belief that the trial court’s instructions were inadequate to apprise the jury of these principles. The jury were instructed that if the defendant issued checks knowing that they would be paid by the cashier, although both knew that there were insufficient funds in the defendant’s accounts to cover the checks, then the defendant was guilty of aiding and abetting the cashier in violating the statute.1
The jury could thus have found the appellant guilty of aiding and abetting without finding the association, participation or collaboration in the criminal venture which, as the majority opinion points out, the law requires. Nye & Nissen v. United States, supra; see Morei v. United States, 6 Cir., 1942, 127 F.2d 827, 830-831.
It will not do to say that the terms of the statute making principals of aiders *17and abettors are self-explanatory and required no further elucidation. 18 U.S. C.A., § 2(a). This has been called “an area of law which is difficult enough for the seasoned attorney.” Nye & Nissen v. United States, supra, 336 U.S. at page 629, 69 S.Ct. at page 774 (dissenting opinion). Moreover, the deficiency of these instructions was not that they failed to explain the law as fully as might be desirable. The instructions were erroneous because they were subject to an interpretation completely at variance with the settled principles of law which are recognized and restated in the majority opinion.
I would reverse the judgment of conviction and remand the case for a new trial.

. The pertinent instructions were as follows : “Now, upon the whole case and after considering all the- evidence you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants J. D. Logsdon and jRegina Logsdon committed the acts charged in the indictment in that they aided, abetted, counseled and induced Bernard Ware Barrett to wilfully misapply moneys, funds and credits of the insured bank by issuing cheeks drawn on the bank in the sum specified in the indictment knowing that Barrett would honor and pay these checks from funds of the bank when both Barrett and these defendants knew that there were insufficient funds in the accounts against which the checks were drawn with which to pay them, if you believe that beyond a reasonable doubt, it’s your duty to find the defendants guilty. If you do not so believe, it’s your duty to acquit them.”