Court Opinion

ID: 9650932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:56:32.221474+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:27.451715
License: Public Domain

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
' In my opinion a prima facie case was made out against Gargotta which was for the jury. He had in his possession two automatic pistols belonging to the United States, stolen from an armory not an hour’s ride distant from the place of his arrest; they bore the legend stamped conspicuously upon them, “Property of the United States of America,” and he could read that legend. It was shown that ordnance property generally belonging to the government had never been offered for sale to the public. The President had been authorized by Congress to sell guns and ammunition to members of the National Rifle Association and other recognized associations for the encouragement of small arm target practice, but there was no evidence that the power had ever been exercised. Some weapons like those in the possession of the accused were on occasions sold to regular officers of the United States Army, but only upon certification that they were for the officers’ personal use. When asked about his possession of the weapons by federal agents whom he knew to be concerned about the government property, the accused declared he never had them.
Perhaps it was not impossible for him to have come into possession of the weapons without anything to put him on notice that they were the property of the United States and stolen. It may not be impossible that he found them on the street in the dark, just before his arrest; or had them handed to him there; or had not had a chance to read the inscriptions on them. Such speculative possibilities can always be conjured up because we have no absolute demonstration of knowledge or intent. If a man is seen to be admiring a world’s masterpiece in the art gallery and is found with it cut from the frame and rolled up under his coat within the hour, there is always the same thing to be said; possibly he found it, or had it handed to him, or did not know it had been stolen. If he keeps perfectly still and nobody saw the crime committed, such conjectural possibilities may persist.
But the ruling does not turn thereon. It turns on reasonable, inference. What is the reasonable inference to be drawn from the accused’s possession of these weapons— one of them drawn in his hand, the other hidden in his bosom; and from his denial thaffhe had them?
Light is thrown on the question by occurrences too widely published and generally known to be ignored by the courts; namely, the frequent robberies of armories and arsenals in late years and the arming of public enemies with government weapons so obtained. It ought not to be assumed that a man who is found with two such weapons so stolen from a nearby armory has never read or • heard about it like his neighbors. The government stamps the declaration of its ownership on the weapons and takes precautions to prevent them *985from falling into other possession or ownership. They are not so entirely unique as art masterpieces, but they do have a special character that immediately suggests inquiry when they are found out of their setting. They can hardly come into the hand of a layman unless crime has been committed to obtain them. When the inevitable inquiry arises, the spontaneous exclamation, “How did you get those government pistols,” and the answer of the possessor is, “I never had them”, you infer guilty knowledge, and nothing else. It is the reasonable and natural inference.
I think the court should confront this actuality directly. The injuries and disorders which are inflicted on society by evilly disposed persons who succeed in possessing themselves of these deadly government weapons are but too well known. An individual who is found with two of them on his person, clearly marked and proved to have been stolen, and who has falsely denied his possession is more than a suspect. There is proof against him which sustains belief and calls for explanation if he is innocent. To hold him to his proof deprives him of no right or immunity which any man ought to have. If he came by the guns in some such way that he did not know they were stolen property, the fact could doubtless be shown; but I think that in the absence of any such showing the duty of the court was to let the jury decide.
There is no direct precedent to the contrary, and sensible regard for the public safety, under conditions as they are, requires that the conviction be affirmed.