Court Opinion

ID: 9842835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:19:24.417756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:57.014341
License: Public Domain

FRANK, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
1. Masiello was admittedly guilty of the substantive crime. He was not, however, guilty of the sole crime for which he was indicted — i. e., conspiracy with Stickel — unless Stickel was guilty of conspiring with Masiello. I think that — except for one item — the evidence, although enough to support a judgment for the government, were it the plaintiff in a civil suit, does not suffice to support a criminal conviction.1 But I agree that one item of testimony is so damning *286that the jury could reasonably find Stickel, and therefore Masiello, guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt.2
2. Were it not for that particular testimony, I would dissent. For I disagree with my colleagues’ statement that “the test for the judge to apply in determining what rational inferences of fact a jury may be permitted to draw from the testimony is the same in civil and criminal cases,” and the statement in United States v. Feinberg, 2 Cir., 140 F.2d 592, 594, 154 A.L.R. 272, “that the standard of evidence necessary to send a case to the jury is the same in both civil and criminal cases”. In a concurring opinion in United States v. Castro, 2 Cir., 228 F.2d 807, I stated my reasons for disagreeing with that thesis. I think it desirable, because of my colleagues’ emphatic reiteration of that thesis in the instant case, to amplify (and, in one respect, modify)2a my comments in the Castro case.2b
3. It is a vaunted part of our legal tradition that the government’s proof in a criminal case must be more persuasive than plaintiff’s proof in a civil case, i. e., that while, in a civil case, to sustain a verdict, plaintiff’s proof must be by a “preponderance of the evidence,” in a ■criminal ease the government as plaintiff must prove defendant’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In a civil case, if the trial judge reasonably considers that the evidence most favorable to the plaintiff is such that a reasonable jury would not be persuaded to find that that evidence meets the “preponderance” standard, the trial judge ■should not allow the case to go to the jury but should direct a verdict for the defendant. Many courts, including several federal courts of appeal, have held that the criminal standard requires that the judge direct a verdict for the accused if the judge reasonably thinks that the evidence for conviction is such that it might persuade a reasonable jury to find that it meets the “preponderance” test but does not meet the “beyond-a-reasonable-doubt” test, and that his failure to do so constitutes reversible error. Contrary to my colleagues’ critical comment, those courts do not hold that the trial judge may decide whether the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Those courts do hold that the judge should direct a verdict for the accused, if the judge reasonably thinks that a reasonable jury could not find guilt proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
It has been suggested3 (I think correctly) (a) that the civil standard — “by a preponderance” — means that the inferences from the testimony are such as to persuade that the occurrence of an essential fact was more likely or probable than its non-occurrence, and (b) that the criminal test — “beyond a reasonable doubt” — means that those inferences are such as to convince that the occurrence of an essential fact was much more likely or probable than its non-occurrence. Recently, Denning, J., an unusually able English judge, explained in an opinion the differences in burden of proof as follows: In a civil case, the evidence need only have a “reasonable degree of probability”; if “the evidence is such that the tribunal can say, ‘We think it more probable than not,’ the burden is discharged, but, if the probabilities are equal, it is not.” In a criminal case, before a defendant is found guilty, “the evidence need not reach certainty but it must carry a high degree of probability. If the evidence against *287a man is so strong as to leave only a remote possibility in his favour which can be dismissed with the sentence, ‘Of course it is possible, but not in the least probable,’ the case is proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but nothing short of that will suffice.”4 This, I think, is what the Supreme Court meant when it said, in Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 126, 138, 75 S.Ct. 127, 130, 99 L.Ed. 150, “Unlike civil actions * * * the prosecution must always prove the criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt. * * * The government must * * * prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt though not to a mathematical certainty.”
Departing from its earlier view,5 this Circuit, some years ago, contrived its own doctrine,5a which is as follows:
(a) The trial judge commits reversible error in a criminal case if, in his charge, he fails to tell the jury that, in order to find the accused guilty, they must conclude that his guilt has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
(b) But the trial judge commits no reversible error in failing to direct a verdict for the accused, or in not entering a judgment of acquittal (after a verdict adverse to the accused), if (1) he thinks that a reasonable jury could reasonably believe the evidence preponderates in the government’s favor, even if (2) he reasonably feels sure that a reasonable jury could not believe that the evidence proves the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In such a case, he must let the case go to the jury — provided only he includes in his charge the statement that the jury must acquit unless it believes the evidence proves the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If the jury then finds the accused guilty, the judge must enter a judgment of conviction, sending a man to jail or to his death — despite the fact that the judge feels certain that a reasonable jury could have had no more than a belief that accused’s guilt had been proved by but a preponderance of the evidence.
To put it succinctly, even if the judge has no doubt that the jury cannot reasonably comply with his admonition that it must acquit unless it finds the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt — i. e., if he has no doubt that a reasonable jury could find guilt by no more than a preponderance of the evidence — nevertheless the judge must let the jury return a verdict, and if that verdict is adverse to the accused, the judge may not properly set aside the verdict and enter a judgment of acquittal.
Thus in this Circuit the reasonable-doubt standard has no significance whatever for the judge; its sole function is as a part of the instructions to the jury. So, in United States v. Castro, 2 Cir., 228 F.2d 807, 808, the majority opinion rejected the theory “that the accused is entitled to a protection greater than that the jury must be told that they must not have any fair doubt of the guilt of the accused,” and added, “whether that is the doctrine in all the circuits we need not inquire, for it is the thoroughly established doctrine in this circuit that the only difference between a civil action and a criminal prosecution is in the instruction that must be given to the jury that they [the jury] must be convinced beyond all fair doubt.”
*288This “Second Circuit doctrine,”6 I think erroneous. It reduces the criminal standard to little more than a verbal ritual, a ceremonial set of words included in the judge’s charge. This appears from this court’s statement, in United States v. Valenti, 2 Cir., 134 F.2d 362, 364, that the “requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a direction to the jury” which “cannot be accorded a quantitative value other than as a general cautionary admonition.”
If that be correct — if, for the judge, the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt test, can have no “quantitative value” greater than the “preponderance” test, and therefore he may not use the criminal test as either a pre-verdict or post-verdict check on the jury — then, if the jury finds the accused guilty, we may easily have a case where the judge must let the verdict stand although he is sure that guilt could not reasonably have been proved by anything more than a preponderance of the evidence. In short, according to this doctrine, a criminal conviction does not necessarily mean an adjudication of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but may well mean adjudication of guilt which can reasonably be by a preponderance only. One cannot too easily reconcile that doctrine with Mitchell v. Commissioner, 2 Cir., 89 F.2d 873. There this court held that acquittal of Mitchell in a criminal action, for wilful attempt to evade a tax, did not constitute res judicata in Mitchell’s favor when later, in a civil action before the Board of Tax Appeals, he sought to avoid civil liability to the United States for failure to pay the very same tax with fraudulent intent to evade, a liability founded upon the very same evidence. This court gave as its reason for so holding that the acquittal was merely an adjudication that the proof was not sufficient to overcome all reasonable doubt of: the, 'guilt of the accused, and was therefore not at odds with proof by but a preponderance. See also Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391, 397, 403, 405-406, 58 S.Ct. 630, 82 L.Ed. 917.
This court, I think, has not heretofore attempted to explain the reason for its doctrine, except in United States v. Feinberg, 2 Cir., 140 F.2d 592, 594, 154 A.L. R. 272, where the court “refused to distinguish between the evidence which should satisfy reasonable men, and the evidence which should satisfy reasonable men beyond a reasonable doubt”, because “in the long run the line between them is too thin for day to day use.” The reasoning thus seems to be that the distinction is too tenuous to be understood and practically applied by anyone, either judges or juries.6a That reasoning is certainly more than implicit in my colleagues’ statement in the instant ease that the same evidence cannot “tell one story as to what happened in a criminal prosecution for manslaughter and another for damages for personal injury ox-wrongful death” — a statement which amounts to saying that the two standards are actually identical, albeit not worded identically. I shall assume, at any rate for the moment, that that is a correct interpretation of this court’s reasoning. On that assumption, suppose this: A juror, who had earlier served in a civil case, asks the trial judge, after he has given his charge in a criminal case: “Is thex-e a difference we must observe between a ‘preponderance of the evidence’ and ‘beyond a x-easonable doubt’?” Suppose the judge were to say, “Yes.” Suppose the juror were then to ask, “If you were sitting as a juror, would you always, if the issues were the same, arrive at the same verdict, regardless of whether the case was civil or criminal?” If one of my two colleagues were the trial judge, then according to the Second Circuit doctrine, I think he would, in fairness, have to reply, “Yes. I am unable to see any. intel*289ligible practical difference.” The juror, if alert, would then inquire, “Well, if there is no difference, why, in a criminal case, do you give us a charge that varies from the charge in a civil case?” I leave it to my two colleagues to suggest the response.
4. When considering the import of this circuit’s present doctrine, it is necessary, in order to keep in mind the functions of the judge and the jury respectively, to distinguish two different kinds of inferences:
(a) When, in a jury case, a witness testifies to the occurrence of a fact, the jury, if it belives him, may properly infer the occurrence of that fact from that testimony. Such an inference, based directly on testimony, is a “testimonial inference” (or a direct or primary inference). It rests entirely on the jury’s belief in the credibility — reliability—of the testimony of some witness: A witness has directly testified to a fact which the jury, believing him, takes as a fact. Accordingly, such an inference is often (misleadingly) called “direct evidence.” 6b
(b) From one or more testimonial inferences, however, further inferences of the occurrence of other facts may be drawn, i. e., inferences as to the existence or occurrence of facts concerning which no one has testified. Any such inference, for convenience, may be described as an “indirect” or “derivative inference.” 7 Often it is labelled “cir-eumstantial evidence” to distinguish it from “direct evidence.”
A testimonial inference involves an evaluation of witnesses’ credibility; but once a fact is inferred on the basis of a testimonial inference, then any fact de-rivately inferred from that fact (i. e., any “circumstantial evidence”) will in and of itself involve no evaluation of credibility.
[Because no one testifies to a fact thus derivatively inferred, it is sometimes called a “mute fact,” or, as my colleagues put it, “mute evidence.” It has been said that a fact thus derivatively inferred, i. e., “circumstantial evidence,” is therefore singularly reliable, more so that a fact to which some witness directly testified, because “circumstances cannot lie.” That cannot be correct: The testimonial inference, from which such a fact is derivatively inferred, itself derives from testimony of a witness who may have lied or made a mistake in observation or memory or in his report at the trial of his memory. “It seems,” said Wills, “to have been overlooked that circumstances * * * must be proved by human testimony; that although ‘circumstances cannot lie,’ the narrators of them may; that, like witnesses of other facts, they may be biased or mistaken * * *”7a “Granting that facts cannot lie, the witnesses who report them to the jury can and may,” said Burill, Circumstantial Evidence (1868) 223.]
*290In a criminal or a civil jury case, a federal trial judge, in determining whether to grant a new trial, may consider his own belief or disbelief in parts of the testimony and may thus draw his own testimonial inferences. But, in granting a new trial, the judge does not decide the case; he merely leaves the decision to another jury.
In determining, however, whether to direct a verdict for the defendant, in a civil or criminal case, the judge may not properly consider the credibility of any of the witnesses, i. e., he may not properly rely on his own testimonial inferences, but must leave the drawing of those inferences to the jury. Arid, after verdict, he must accept the jury’s testimonial inferences when he determines whether in a civil case to enter a judgment n. o. v. or whether in a criminal case to enter a judgment for acquittal despite a guilty verdict.8 That is, in making such determinations, the judge must accept as credible any testimony which will support the jury’s verdict.
Although, in determining whether to direct a verdict or to enter judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the trial judge should never rely on his own testimonial inferences (since, for such purposes, the question of witness’ credibility is for the jury), nevertheless, he should inquire whether any asserted derivative inference, essential to support a verdict, is irrational: When, in a civil case, an asserted derivative inference, constituting an essential component of a verdict for one party, is irrational, the judge should direct a verdict for the adversary, or, after verdict against that adversary, enter a judgment n. o. v. in his favor.9 In a criminal case, if an asserted irrational derivative inference is essential to a verdict of guilt, the judge must direct a verdict for the accused or, after verdict of guilt, enter a judgment of acquittal.
*291In making such determinations, a federal trial judge does not “weigh the evidence” in the sense that he considers questions of credibility. However, he must determine whether the permissible testimonial inferences plus the rational derivative inferences (i. e., the “direct” plus the “circumstantial” evidence) are sufficient to make out a case for the jury. In so doing, he does not take over the jury’s function.10
5. Up to this point, I think all the federal courts agree (although the phraseology varies). The Second Circuit however, disagrees with others concerning the rule applicable, in a criminal as distinguished from a civil jury case, in the following situation:
(a) There is testimony justifying some testimonial inferences, (b) A particular derivative inference (i. e., “circumstantial evidence”), drawn from those testimonial inferences, is essential to a verdict for one party, (c) That derivative inference is rational, i. e., on the basis of that inference, the occurrence of an essential fact may be inferred rationally, although no one has testified to that fact, (d) The support in the testimonial inferences (“direct evidence”) for that derivative inference (i. e., for that “circumstantial evidence”) is such that the occurrence of that inferred fact is more probable than its non-occurrence, but is not much more probable. In a civil jury case of that sort, the judge should not direct a verdict — and he may not properly, after verdict, enter a judgment n. o. v. — at variance with such a derivative inference (i. e., with the “circumstantial evidence”).
Does the same rule apply in a criminal case? Must the trial judge, in such a case, apply the same test to such a derivative inference (“circumstantial evidence”) as in a civil case? Is the difference between the two standards — as to the degree of probability of a derivatively inferred fact (“circumstantial evidence”) — one which the judge must ignore? The Second Circuit now says Yes. Many other courts say, No. I think the latter answer correct.
I assumed, supra, that this court’s explanation of the reason for its doctrine is that no intelligible, practical, difference exists between the two standards.11 Perhaps, however, my colleagues would say that what they mean is that the difference exists yet that it is too tenuous for judges, but not for juries, to understand it. Such an explanation I find difficult to comprehend: If jurors can differentiate the two tests, cannot judges? Federal judges in other circuits apparently have thought so, for they have found it possible to apply the criminal test when reversing criminal convictions.12 Are the district and circuit judges in the Second Circuit singularly obtuse?
As I said in the Castro case, supra [228 F.2d 809] the Supreme Court does not deem judges unable “to engage in such or similar line drawing. It requires a judge to perform that feat when he sits in a criminal case without a jury. It requires a judge to make a not unlike distinction in a denaturalization proceeding (which is judge-tried); his decision for the government in such a case will be reversed if it rests on evidence measuring up merely to the standard of a preponderance of the evidence.13 Con*292sider also a judge-tried suit * * * to establish a lost instrument; in such and several other kinds of cases, the trial judge’s decision will be reversed unless the proof was ‘clear and convincing’ (or the like).14 In a patent case, the judge’s decision as to prior use of the patented device must be reversed unless the proof leaves no reasonable doubt.”15
To support their position, my colleagues mention, as illustrative, a case where “the evidence” as to “speed and position of an automobile” is “disclosed by the treads when the brakes are suddenly applied.” My colleagues, as above noted, say that such evidence cannot sensibly “tell one story as to what actually happened in a, criminal prosecution for manslaughter and another for damages for personal injury or wrongful death.” Perhaps not, in such, a case: (a) If there is testimony as to the tire marks — i. e., testimony that, a photograph of those marks was competently and accurately made at or near the time when two cars collided or a car ran into a man-^-then the jury’s'testimonial inference of the existence of those marks cannot be questioned by the judge.16 (b) With such a testimonial inference, the ■ difference between a rational derivative inference in a civil and a criminal case — the difference in the degree of probability — might be impalpable for both the judge and the jury (except in most extraordinary circumstances, hard to imagine). But in the instances where other federal appellate courts have made a distinction between civil and criminal eases, there was a palpable difference in the degree of probability.17
My colleagues say18 that, under the rule to which those courts adhere, “normally rational inferences * * * become irrational inferences in criminal cases.” Not at all. What those courts hold, as I analyze their opinions, is that a crucial fact rationally inferred by a derivative inference (i. e., a crucial fact to which no one has testified) (1) suffices to sustain a verdict in a civil case if, on the basis of that inference, the occurrence of that fact is more probable than its non-occurrence, but (2) does not suffice to sustain a verdict in a criminal case unless the occurrence of that crucial derivatively inferred fact is much more probable than its non-occurrence.
To rephrase the rule: In a civil, as well as in a criminal action, the judge, on a defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, must ascertain whether there is “substantial” evidence to support a plaintiff’s verdict; in reaching his conclusion, he must assume the credibility of the witnesses whose testimony favors the plaintiff, and he must then decide whether the support in the evidence for any derivative inference (“circumstantial evidence”), essential to a verdict for plaintiff, is “substantial”; but, in a criminal case, because of the higher proof-burden, the word “substantial” has a meaning different from its meaning in a civil case.19 Wherefore it will not do to cite, as a prop for the Sec.ond Circuit doctrine, the following from Pierce v. United States, 252 U.S. 239, *293251-252, 40 S.Ct. 205, 210, 64 L.Ed. 542: “There being substantial evidence in support of the charges, the court would have erred if it had peremptorily directed an acquittal upon any of the counts. The question whether the effect of the evidence was such as to overcome any reasonable doubt of guilt was for the jury, not the court, to decide.” It should be noted that the Court found there was “substantial evidence.” Moreover, the Court had previously said, 252 U.S. at page 250, 40 S.Ct. at page 202, that the evidence was “abundant.” The Court did not at all suggest the absence of a difference in the meaning of “substantial” evidence in a criminal as distinguished from a civil case.
Consider, for instance, Parnell v. United States, 10 Cir., 64 F.2d 324, 329 where on rehearing the court held that the trial judge should have directed a verdict in favor of one of the accused, Hays, charged with criminal conspiracy. The court said the basic question was whether Hays was a partner of the co-defendant, Parnell, or merely an employee. It concluded that, since the evidence was consistent with the theory that he was an employee, it was error not to direct a verdict for him. In reaching this conclusion, the Court summarized the testimony as follows: “Hays helped construct and operate the still on the Tidwell Farm. With one Slade, he became a surety on the bail bond of Jake Strieber, who was charged with the violation of the prohibitory liquor laws; he, with Parnell and one Muse, was also a surety on the bond of Jake Bock who was interested in the Tidwell still, and was active in making bond for a negro named Cuba, who had been employed at the still, both charged with a violation of the liquor laws.” Suppose this had been a civil suit against Hays in which the plaintiff’s case turned on whether Hays was a partner in this enterprise; I submit that the court would have held a derivative inference drawn from the same testimony would have been substantial enough to support a verdict for plaintiff.20
My colleagues surprisingly cite, in support of their position, Schulz v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 350 U.S. 523, 76 S.Ct. 608, 610, a civil negligence action for wrongful death under F. E. L. A. There the testimony, favorable to plaintiff, justified testimonial inferences reported by the Supreme Court as follows:
On Christmas Day 1949, at about 5:15 P.M., the deceased, Schulz, reported for work on his job at Pier H, Jersey City, New Jersey, and was assigned to work on four tugboats docked side by side there. He went immediately to cheek the boats without waiting to change from his street to his working clothes. Returning to the pier alongside the tugs about seven o’clock, Schulz reported that he had finished his checking and was now going back to the boats to change to his work clothes and proceed with his other duties there. He was last sefen alive walking in the direction of the nearest tug. At 1:25 A.M. a supervisor found Schulz was not on the boats. His street clothes were hanging in the upper engine room where the tug attendants usually changed clothes. His lunch package was also there. Three of the tugs were at all times wholly unlighted and dark; one was partially illuminated by spotlights from the pier. The night was cold — 10 above zero — and there was some ice on the tugs. Because the company did not have enough workers that night properly to perform the duties that were required, Schulz had to try to take care of all four tugs by himself. To do this he had to step from one boat to another in the dark except for such limited illumination as he could obtain from a flashlight. Several weeks after *294Schulz disappeared from the boats his body was found in the water near an adjacent pier. He was clothed in nothing but shorts and socks. A flashlight was in his hand. He had drowned. He was not under the influence of alcohol when he came to the boat, he did not commit suicide, there was no foul play, and he met his death by accident. He was a capable and experienced workman who had been employed by the defendant, for several years. The trial judge directed a verdict for the defendant. We affirmed — 2 Cir., 222 F.2d 540 — on the ground that it could not be reasonably inferred from the testimony that Schulz’s death “was proximately caused by any default on the part of the defendant.” The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the jury could have made reasonable derivative inferences sufficient to sustain a verdict for plaintiff. The Court said: “Fair-minded men could certainly find from the foregoing facts that defendant was negligent in requiring Schulz to work on these dark, icy and undermanned boats. And reasonable men could also find from the discovery of Schulz’s half-robed body with a flashlight gripped in his hand that he slipped from an unlighted tug as he groped about in the darkness attempting to perform his duties. But the courts below took this case from the jury because of a possibility that Schulz might have fallen on a particular spot where there happened to be no ice, or that he might have fallen from one boat that was partially illuminated by shore lights. Doubtless the jury could have so found (had the court allowed it to perform its function) but it would not have been compelled to draw such inferences. For ‘The very essence of its function is to select from among conflicting inferences’ ”. My colleagues, in effect, conclude that, if the defendant in the Schulz case were indicted for manslaughter, and if at the trial the same evidence were introduced by the prosecutor, the Supreme Court would hold that the same derivative inference would support the defendant’s conviction. I most seriously doubt that conclusion. I would entertain the same doubt if the plaintiff had been the government prosecuting the defendant for a crime in Tennant v. Peoria & P. U. Ry., 321 U.S. 29, 64 S.Ct. 409, 88 L.Ed. 520, or in Lavendar v. Kurn, 327 U.S. 645, 66 S.Ct. 740, 90 L.Ed. 916, or in Cahill v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., 350 U.S. 898, 76 S.Ct. 180, reversing 2 Cir., 224 F.2d 637. For as Wigmore puts it (Evidence, Section 2498): “In civil cases the extreme caution and the unusual positiveness of persuasion required in criminal cases do not obtain.”
The reason for requiring a higher standard of probability in a criminal case is, of course, that a criminal conviction entails far more serious consequences than a civil judgment. If the judges abandon responsibility for determining whether reasonable juries could find that derivative inferences (“circumstantial evidence”) meet that higher standard, I think they cut the heart out of our oft-repeated boast that, in this land, no man can be jailed or put to death by the government unless proof of his guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.21

. I cannot agree, for example, that it “passes credulity that Stickel alone never heard” of Masiello’s shake-downs which Masiello accomplished by implied threats' that otherwise Stickel would use his office to bring about strikes. Often a crooked agent successfully creates the-false impression that his innocent principal is a party to or has authorized his misdeeds.
The evidence as to the incident when Stickel told Hillman that Masiello “knew everything that Stickel knew” turns out *286on careful scrutiny, I think, to be quite capable of an entirely innocent interpretation.
It is no proof whatever of Stickel’s participation in the shake-downs that the victimized haulers believed that “the two men were working together.”

. I refer to the testimony of Hickey as reported in my colleagues’ opinion.

. See infra, footnote 8.

. As I said in Castro, I had previously acquiesced in that thesis.

. Morgan, Some Problems of Evidence (1956) 84^-85. For a somewhat similar statement, see McBaine, Burden of Proof: Degrees of Belief, 32 Calif.L. Kev. 242 (1944).

. Miller v. Minister of Pensions, 1947, 2 All Engl.L.Reports, 372.

. See, e. g., Fraina v. United States, 2 Cir., 255 F. 28, 35.

. Even after tlie first enunciation of the “Second Circuit doctrine,” this court sometimes reverted to its earlier view. See, e. g., United States v. Wishnatzki, 2 Cir., 77 F.2d 357, 360; United States v. Silva, 2 Cir., 109 F.2d 531.
In other words, the present Second Circuit doctrine did not fully crystallize until fairly recently. It became fixed beginning in 1943 with United States v. Valenti, 2 Cir., 134 F.2d 362.

. The justification for that .label will be found not only in -the majority opinion, but in the headnote, to .United States v. Castro, 2 Cir., 228 F.2d 807.

. I shall discuss infra, point 5, an alternative interpretation of this explanation.

. “Direct evidence” is misleading. For the jurors do not see or hear the past events; they learn of those past events, at second hand, principally from the testimony of witnesses.
When a document is put in evidence, usually its authenticity is based on testimony. Even so called “real evidence” is impliedly vouched for by a witness. A witness’ demeanor, sometimes called “demeanor evidence,” affects the “testimonial inference” drawn from the witness’ testimony.

. For the nature of the important distinction between “testimonial” (or “direct evidence”) and “derivative” infer-enees (i. e. “circumstantial evidence”), see, e. g., Stephen, Introduction to The Indian Evidence Act (1872), 38, 41—46; 1 Wigmore, Evidence (3rd ed.) Section 25; American Tobacco Co. v. The Katingo Hadjipatera, 2 Cir., 194 F.2d 449, 451; N. L. R. B. v. Universal Camera Corp., 2 Cir., 190 F.2d 429, 432 (concurring opinion); Wabash Corp. v. Ross Electric Corp., 2 Cir., 187 F.2d 577, 601-602 (dissenting opinion); Maine, Village Communities (4th ed. 1881) 317-318; Frank, Short of Sickness and Death, 26 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 545, 559-564 (1951).

. Wills, Circumstantial Evidence (Fifth Eng. ed. with American notes, 1905) 36.

. In my concurring opinion in United States v. Castro, 2 Cir., 228 F. 807, 809-810, I intimated that in a criminal case tried to a jury a trial judge can sometimes properly direct a verdict on the basis of his own evaluation of the incredibility of government witnesses. That intimation was probably erroneous; cf. United States v. Renda, 2 Cir., 56 F.2d 601.
However, a distinction in this respect might conceivably be made between a criminal and a civil ease in the federal courts: The Seventh Amendment, which relates solely to civil cases, contains the provision that “no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.” The Sixth Amendment, which relates solely to criminal cases, contains no such provision. It is therefore perhaps possible to argue that, in a criminal case tried to a jury, the trial judge (or even an upper court on appeal) has a wider power of examining the facts, for the benefit of the defendant, and may therefore reject testimony which seems patently false. Cf. Shapiro, Criminal Appeal on the Facts and The Federal Judicial System, 34 Ill.L.Rev. (1939) 332.

. In a federal civil case tried by a judge without a jury, the upper court must (except in unusual circumstances) accept .the findings of the trial judge, insofar as they consist of testimonial inferences based on testimony of orally-testifying witnesses whose demeanor the trial judge observed. But the upper court may reject any of the trial judge’s rational derivative inferences if other alternative rational derivative inferences are open. See, e. g., American Tobacco Co. v. The Katingo Hadjipatera, 2 Cir., 194 F.2d 449, 451; E. F. Drew & Co. v. Reinhard, 2 Cir., 170 F. 2d 679, 684; In re Kellett Aircraft Corp., 3 Cir., 186 F.2d 197, 200; Wabash Corp. v. Ross Electric Corp., 2 Cir., 187 F.2d 577, 601-603 (dissenting opinion); Orvis v. Higgins, 2 Cir., 180 F.2d 537; cf. Gindorff v. Prince, 2 Cir., 189 F.2d 897.
Whether the same is true when an upper court reviews the findings of a trial judge sitting in a criminal case without a jury, has not yet been considered, so far as I know. I see no good reason for a difference.
The rule is different when an upper federal court reviews the rational derivative inferences of a federal administrative agency. See N. L. R. B. v. Universal Camera Corp., 2 Cir., 190 F.2d 429, 432 (concurring opinion); N. L. R. B. v. Dinion Coil Co., 2 Cir., 201 F.2d 484, 490; cf. F. C. C. v. Allentown Broadcasting Corp., 349 U.S. 358, 364, 75 S.Ct. 855, 99 L.Ed. 1147.

. Of course, if a federal trial judge does direct a verdict for the defendant in a criminal ease and enters judgment accordingly, his judgment is not appealable. He can thus “abuse” his power without possibility of reversal.

. United States v. Feinberg, 2 Cir., 140 F.2d 592, 594, 154 A.L.R. 272.

. See, e. g., Chicco v. United States, 4 Cir., 284 F. 434; Parnell v. United States, 10 Cir., 64 F.2d 324, 329; Cooper v. United States, 94 U.S.App.D.C. 343, 218 F.2d 39; Friedus v. United States, 96 U.S.App.D.C. 133, 223 F.2d 598; Rodriguez v. United States, 5 Cir., 232 F.2d 819, 820-821.

. Baumgartner v. United States, 322 U.S. 665, 64 S.Ct. 1240, 88 L.Ed. 1525; Schneiderman v. United States, 320 U.S. 118, 63 S.Ct. 1333, 87 L.Ed. 1796.

. This court so held in Cullen v. Chappell, 2 Cir., 116 F.2d 1017.

. Deering v. Winona Harvester Works, 155 U.S. 286, 301, 15 S.Ct. 118, 39 L.Ed. 153.

. Except, as noted above, in -granting a new trial (as distinguished from granting a directed verdict or a judgment of acquittal or n. o. v.).

. As I said in the Castro case, supra, I grant that the application of neither standard' yields certainty, that -no scales exist for “weighing evidence,” and that talk of “weighing” in this context relies on what may be a most misleading metaphor. See Larson v. Jo Ann Cab Corp., 2 Cir., 209 F.2d 929.

. See their footnote 5.

. Cf. United States v. United States Gypsum Co., D.C., 51 F.Supp. 613, 629, 632, cited with approval in Curley v. United States, 81 U.S.App.D.C. 389, 160 F.2d 229, 233, and Cooper v. United States, 94 U.S.App.D.C. 343, 218 F.2d 39.

. For other instances of reversals of criminal convictions where I think it clear the results would have been otherwise had the suits been dvil, see, e. g., United States v. Litberg, 7 Cir., 175 F.2d 20; Cooper v. United States, 94 U.S.App.D. C. 343, 218 F.2d 39; Rodriguez v. United States, 5 Cir., 232 F.2d 819. See also United States v. Silva, 2 Cir., 109 F.2d 531, decided (as previously noted) before the Second Circuit doctrine had fully crystallized.

. I repeat what I said in United States v. Castro, 2 Cir., 228 F.2d 807, 810: “Since a criminal action involves a man’s life or liberty, we ought not, in such an action, accord much sanctity to stare decisis by adhering to a precedent favorable to the prosecutor, if we now consider it markedly unreasonable, undesirable, or unjust. See discussion and citations in United States v. Scully, 2 Cir., 225 F.2d 113, 118 (concurring opinion). For that reason, while in civil suits I feel obliged to follow recent decisions of this court with which I disagree, see, e. g., my concurring opinion in Rieser v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 2 Cir., 224 F.2d 198, 205, I feel free to dissent from any of our decisions ■ based on established rules adverse to one accused of crime, when I think those rules unjust.”