Court Opinion

ID: 9458027
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:40:55.772187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:36.774902
License: Public Domain

*371SEITZ, Chief Judge
(concurring).
I seriously doubt that the evidence of arsenic poisoning was admissible. However, I am now satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained. Cf. Schneble v. Florida, 405 U.S. 427, 92 S.Ct. 1056, 31 L.Ed.2d 340 (1972). First, the unsullied evidence of guilt was most substantial. Furthermore, the combined effect of other evidence properly before the jury was as damaging on the “murder” theme as was that of arsenic poisoning, particularly: (1) Saperstein’s letter to the F.B.I. disclosing that defendants had threatened to kill him and his family, and (2) the stipulated date of Saperstein’s death— one day after the mailing of the letter. Regardless of the evidence of arsenic poisoning, the jury could well have concluded that defendants in fact were responsible for Saperstein’s death. Realistically, no instructions could have prevented the jurors from drawing this inference. Thus, I do not believe that the evidence of arsenic poisoning, presumably inadmissible, had any significant impact on the verdict. The best indication that the jury directed its attention to the crime charged is found in the fact that two hours after the jury retired it returned to ask the court for a review of the definition of “extortionate means.”