Court Opinion

ID: 9650454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:38:24.798779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:21.860915
License: Public Domain

SANBORN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) •.
If I had presided at the trial of this case I would not have directed a verdict in favor of Walker, the appellant, on the ground that there was no evidence that he knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that Mrs. Albright was and intended to be a witness in the case of United States v. Walker, Albright, and others, D.C. No. 13648, upon the trial of which she subsequently testified as a witness for the government. The conversation which Walker had with Mrs. Al-bright after the return of the indictment in .that case, as she relates that conversation, indicates that the only purpose which Walker could have had was to persuade her to testify falsely upon the trial. He was told by her that she had given to the prosecution a statement of facts which tended to establish the existence of the conspiracy charged in that indictment. He knew that she was a person who could testify against him and the other deiendants, including herself, although she could not be compelled to testify. He knew that she in her statement had virtually admitted her own guilt of the charges made, and had thereby indicated her willingness to tell the truth. He knew, or at least had reasonable grounds to believe, that she would have nothing to lose and everything to gain by testifying for the government and telling the truth. That Walker attempted to induce her to testify falsely in court is shown by the following question asked her by Walker’s counsel upon cross-examination and by her answer thereto: “Q. Now, so we will have it clearly, you testify this morning that he told you to, in court, say that this statement that you had made to the Government man was not true? A. Yes, sir.”
Why should Walker, if he did not know and had no reason to believe that Mrs. Albright intended to be a witness, take the trouble to tell her what to testify to in court?
The purpose of section 135 of the Criminal Code, section 241, tit. 18, U.S.C., 18 U.S.C.A. § 241, is to afford protection to witnesses in the courts of the United States, Kloss v. United States, 8 Cir., 77 F.2d 462, 465, and to guard them against corrupt influence, threats, intimidation, and violence. Codefendants who intend to testify as witnesses in criminal cases are as much entitled to this protection as other witnesses, and are usually in greater need of it.
The rule that a penal statute is to be strictly construed in favor of a person accused is not violated by allowing the language of the statute to have its full meaning where that construction supports the policy and purposes of the enactment. Wilson v. United States, 8 Cir., 77 F.2d 236 (certiorari denied, 295 U.S. 759, 55 S.Ct. 926, 79 L.Ed. 1701) and cases cited. In Smith v. United States, 8 Cir., 274 F. 351, 353, this court, speaking of section 135, said: “The terms of the statute, the evil it was enacted to prevent, and the protection it was intended to provide, leave no doubt that under its true interpretation each of those who are subpoenaed to come, of ■those who are called and accept the call to come without subpoenas, of those who are prompted to come by their interests, of those who expect to come, and of those who are selected and expected to come to testify in any case in any court of the United States, falls within the class described by the terms ‘any witness, in any court of the *797United States/ in the section under consideration.”
I concede, of course, that a defendant in preparing his defense in a criminal case is at perfect liberty to interview and consult with all of his codefendants and with all material witnesses, whether they are friendly or hostile to him. He may not, however, in my judgment, attempt to influence, by threats or otherwise, any witness, whether a codefendant or not, to testify falsely upon a trial, without violating both the spirit and the language of the statute under consideration.
I am convinced that if the jury believed Mrs. Albright’s testimony as to her conversation with Walker, it was justified in finding that he had reasonable grounds to believe and did believe, at the time he talked to her, that she intended to be, expected to be, and was prompted by self-interest to be, a witness against him and his codefendants. I am therefore of the opinion that the trial court could not have directed a verdict for Walker, but was obliged to submit the case to the jury for its determination, and that that determination is binding upon this court. I think the judgment should be affirmed.