Court Opinion

ID: 9452141
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 17:31:19.377318+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:33:05.194964
License: Public Domain

DANAHER, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
This appellant contends that the District Judge erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of speedy trial. That motion, argued on the morning when the trial was to commence, noted that the indictment had been filed on April 13, 1965 with a trial date set for May 31, 1965. That week the Government moved to continue the trial date until July. There would seem to have been no unreasonable delay, taking all circumstances into account, for this appellant was also under indictment in Criminal No. 309-65, which had been set for trial on June 7, 1965, and in Criminal No. 403-65 which had been assigned for June 9, 1965. All witnesses in these two cases were local residents.
In the instant case, however, Criminal No. 399-65, the complainant was a resident of Philadelphia. It may well be that the Government reasonably might have anticipated that a basis could be evolved which would render unnecessary calling from Philadelphia the owner of the valuable equipment which someone had stolen on the evening of November 24, 1964. Be that as it may, there is no adequate predicate for this court to rule as a matter of law that the trial judge erred in denying the motion to dismiss. He had before him far more complete knowledge of the situation than seems to be available to us. I would say that there is no abuse of discretion, and on this aspect of the case I see no problem.
It is clear that the case was fully argued and that trial counsel said and did everything possibly open to him except to put the appellant on the witness stand.1 Counsel might have thought as a matter of tactics that his client would be subjected to impeachment. At any rate, the appellant did not testify.
In those circumstances, the trial judge pronounced an opinion which I quote intact:
“Gentlemen, the Court is of the opinion that the evidence pretty clearly establishes that on November 24, 1964, at about 7:00 p. m., a gentleman by the name of Brian Gaffney parked his 1961 Falcon four-door sedan in the 100 block of D Street, Northwest, while he was going into the Dodge Hotel, where he was a registered guest, and from which he planned to leave, and that he left in the automobile at that time two voltage recorders each of the value of $1485, which were the property of Ambric Testing and Engineering Associates, Inc., which is a corporation, one overcoat belonging to Mr. Gaffney, which he says was of the value of about $25.00, and two pairs of sun glasses belonging to Mr. Gaffney, one of which *508was worth $15.00 and the other worth $1.00.
“The evidence also establishes that at the time he left the automobile parked on the street, he saw to it that all of the doors to the automobile were locked.
“When he returned at about seven-thirty, he found that a right front vent was ajar, which had been used as a means of unlocking the door of the automobile, from which there had been removed all of the personal property inside the automobile which I have just enumerated.
“Almost immediately thereafter the automobile was driven to Police Headquarters, and appropriate steps were taken to find any fingerprints which could be identified, and the prints of four fingers were found on the inside of the right front vent, which, as I say, had been locked at the time the car was parked at seven o’clock and which was ajar when it was found at 7:30 p. m.
“The Court is of the opinion that the fingerprints which were on the inside of the vent had been placed there in the period between 7:00 and 7:30 p. m. that evening, incident to the opening of the automobile and the removal from the automobile of the personal property which had been in there at the time Mr. Gaffney left the car parked at the curb duly locked and the time he returned and found it unlocked.
“As I said a moment ago, the automobile was taken almost immediately thereafter to Police Headquarters; these fingerprints were lifted from the right front vent and thereafter were compared with the known fingerprints of the Defendant Hiet.
“On the basis of the testimony which I have heard, I am satisfied that the fingerprints on the vent of the automobile are the fingerprints of this Defendant. On the basis of all the testimony, I am of the opinion that this Defendant did in fact remove and take possession of the personal property which was found in the automobile and, therefore, is guilty as charged in the indictment.
“I want to say to you, in my opinion the factual situations in both the Campbell case2 — which, as I said, I was the trial judge on — and the Cephus case 3 are wholly dissimilar from the facts in this case. While it is true that the Government rests upon what we call circumstantial evidence, in the Court’s opinion the circumstantial evidence in this case is overwhelming.
“To hold otherwise would be to agree with the principle of law which you stated, Mr. Hall, namely, that fingerprints alone are not sufficient to warrant a conviction. I don’t accept that as the law. I am of the opinion that fingerprints under the circumstances of this case are adequate in and of themselves, taking into consideration the circumstances under which the fingerprints must of necessity have been placet] upon the automobile, that is, the inside of the automobile, the in-’ side of that part of the automobile which was tampered with and which was opened by reason of the necessity of opening that in order to gain access to the automobile. I don’t think any conclusion can be drawn except that the person who did that is the person who did open the automobile and did in turn remove the contents of the automobile from the automobile.
“Therefore, it is the judgment of the Court that the Defendant is guilty as charged.”
There has been no showing here that the judge’s findings .are clearly erroneous The law has entrusted to the trier the duty of resolving the question of the guilt or innocence of this appellant. I can not say that he erred as a matter of law.
I would affirm.

. It may be, of course, that he was deterred because of Hiet’s conviction in 1955 of housebreaking and larceny, in 1958 of larceny, in 1959 of larceny, and in 1960 of yet other violations.

. The Campbell case to which the judge refers is Campbell v. United States, 115 U.S.App.D.C. 30, 316 F.2d 681 (1963).

. Cephus v. United States, 122 U.S.App.D.C. 187, 352 F.2d 663, petition for rehearing en banc denied (1965), cert. pending, 86 S.Ct. 1956.