Court Opinion

ID: 9450538
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 16:51:10.076335+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:22.064890
License: Public Domain

BLACKMUN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I must dissent for I feel that the government has proved a submissible case and that no prejudicial error is present.
It is true that there is no direct testimony that this defendant entered Car ARL-9090 or that he threw meat cartons out its door. Farrell was not positioned so as to be able to testify to those details. But the testimony of Farrell, although that of a convicted felon, provides, with the circumstantial evidence, a strong case of damaging character to the defense and one not physically impossible of commitment. His testimony as to meeting the defendant that night; as to being offered payment for his transportation; as to their use of the automobile ; as to being directed where to go as they moved along; as to being invited by the defendant to catch the train together; as to the defendant’s saying he would throw something off that train; as to seeing boxes on the ground; as to moving them into the weeds, provides material which, with the other evidence, if believed, is not consistent with inno-cense of the crime with which the defendant was charged. The existence of some references to Car ART-91627, also violated that night, does not lessen the vigor of the case against the defendant. We should, after all, view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. McIntosh v. United States, 341 F.2d 448 (8 Cir. 1965), and cases cited.
Further, I see here no variance, let alone a material one. This was nothing more than a harmless error in instructions. The court’s charge to the jury, when considered in its entirety, as it must be, is to the effect that entry plus intent were the factors of the crime. I am not persuaded that the jury could have been adversely confused in any way. If prejudice was present, it was in favor of the defendant and not against him. The quoted portion of the charge required, at the most, that the jury find one additional (not alternative) adverse factual detail than the indictment embraced. United States v. Heine, 149 F.2d *715485, 488 (2 Cir. 1945), cert. denied 325 U.S. 885, 65 S.Ct. 1578, 89 L.Ed. 2000. This is- not the kind of thing which concerns substantive rights, affects the preparation of the defense case, or fails to protect against another prosecution for the same offense. Neither is this a situation where a jury convicts of one crime under a charge and trial of another.
I would affirm.