Safford v. United States

233 F. 495, 147 C.C.A. 381, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2488
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 9, 1916
DocketNo. 113
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 233 F. 495 (Safford v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Safford v. United States, 233 F. 495, 147 C.C.A. 381, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2488 (2d Cir. 1916).

Opinion

WARD, Circuit Judge.

March 16, 1915, one Rae Tanzer instituted a civil suit for breach of promise against James W. Osborne, charging that under the name of Oliver Osborne he had seduced her under a promise of marriage. March 19th James W. Osborne swore to a complaint charging Rae Tanzer with a violation of section 215 of the United States Criminal Code (Act March 4, 1909, c. 321, 35 Stat. 1130 [Comp. St. 1913, § 10385]) for using the United States mails to execute a scheme to defraud, upon which a warrant of arrest was issued, under which she was arrested. March 24th a hearing was held before a United States commissioner, at which the defendant, Safford, testified that in October, 1914, he was clerk of the Kensington Hotel in Plainfield, N. J., and that on the 18th of that month the person calling himself Oliver Osborne, accompanied by a lady, took a room together in the hotel, and he then and there identified James W. Osborne, who was present, as the person.

Thereafter the defendant was indicted under section 125 of the United States Criminal Code (section 10295) for falsely swearing that James W. Osborne was the man whom he saw as aforesaid. April 19th he pleaded not guilty, and his trial began April 27th, ending May 5th with a verdict of guilty and a recommendation for mercy.' May 10th he was sentenced to a term of nine months and to pay a fine of [497]*497$1 and to stand committed in the New York County Penitentiary until the fine be paid. This is a writ of error to the judgment.

[1,2] At the trial James W. Osborne was examined in rebuttal as follows:

“Q. Mr. Osborne, take the stand. A. (Witness complies.)
“Q. Mr. Osborne, on the day you swore out the complaint charging Iiac Tanzer with using the mails in a scheme to defraud, was a letter — Exhibit— A. Mr. Wood, that was not in that shape. Give me the envelope, please — the while envelope.
“Q. Was the letter, Defendant’s Exhibit E, delivered to you?
“Mr. Slade: I object to that as not a proper rebuttal, if your honor pleases. The witness’ attention should be specifically directed to some specific question and he might be inquired of.
“The Court: I think the investigation into that exhibit is legitimate rebuttal.
“Mr. Slade: Exception.
“A. May I see the date of the complaint, please, that was made in this case?
“Q. (Hands witness paper.) A. On the 19th day of March, 1915, the paper, sealed up, was delivered to me at my house, the Sherman Square Hotel.
“Q. And was Exhibit — Defendant’s Exhibit--It in the envelope which you now have?
“Mr. Slade: I object as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial — improper rebuttal.
“The Court: Overruled.
“Mr. Slade: Exception.
“A. The two papers, one of which is dated October 24, 1914, and the other paper dated Brooklyn, March 19, 1915, were in the envoi ope delivered to me. “Q. Whore were they delivered to you, Mr. Osborne? A. They were delivered to me in the parlor of my apartment at the Sherman Square Hotel.
“Q. Who was present? A. My wife was present, and also Mr. Wilcox, of my office.
“Q. Will yon please state the circumstances under which those papers were delivered to you? A. 1 was called on the telephone — ■
“Mr. Slade: Wait a minute. Mr. Osborne, 1 object, if the court please.
“The Court: Please state the question. (Question read by the stenographer.)
“The Court: Overruled.
“Mr. Slade: Exception.
“A. I was called on the telephone, and somebody spoke to me on the telephone from my office, and — - Shall I state the conversation?
“Q. Tt was not with anybody connected with your office? A. It was Mr. Kennarclc, who has charge of our board, told me — ■
“Mr. Slade: I object.
“The Court: Sustained.
“Q. After that telephone conversation what happened? A. In consequence of that somebody came to my house.
“Q. Was it a man or a woman? A. It was a man.
“Q. Please describe Mm. A. I should say he was a man of at least half an inch or three-quarters taller than I was, with light eyes, of very fine features, I should say, very straight nose, I remember particularly, with hair I should say slightly lighter than my own, dressed in a gray overcoat, with very broad shoulders, and a trim figure. He did not have a big stomach at all. And in the presence of my wife he came into the room and his name was given.
“Q. What name did he give? A. He gaye the name of Oliver Osborne and— Shall I state the conversation or not?
“Q. íes, state the conversation.
“Mr. Slade: I object.
“The Court: Overruled.
“Mr. Slade: Exception.
“A. He said that ho had read in the newspapers that this woman Eae Tanzer had accused me of having been around with her and having seduced her, and that he knew that I was a man of honor and character from what he [498]*498had read about me, and he was not going to allow a man of that type to suffer for anything that he himself done, and he said he came and stated these things in the presence of Mr. Wilcox and my wife — that he came for the purpose of exonerating me, and .he said: T wrote you this letter in Brooklyn last night, and I intended to mail it to you.’ You see there are two uncanceled stamps on it. ‘But instead of that I came and delivered it to you myself in person.’ He said, ‘I am the man that has been going around with this girl;’ and then he said, T want to have a talk with you privately and apart;’ and he took me in the back room — that is, in my bedroom — left Mr. Wilcox and my wife in the front room, and before he went back into the back room I remember distinctly that I put both hands on his'shoulders this way (indicating) and I looked into his eyes right straight, and I said, ‘Well, you belong to the straight-nosed Osbornes, and not to the snub-nosed Osbornes, as I do,’ because I noticed distinctly that he had such a fine nose. And we had some chat back and forth naturally, and X thanked him. I told him that I felt under the greatest possible obligations to him; that I thought it was a very honorable thing for a man to do. Well, he says, ‘I am not married, and I paid this girl’ — this is what he said to me in the back room — ‘I paid this girl every time I went with her.’ And then, I said to him, ‘Well, where did you go with her?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I tell you, I went with her in various parts of New York,’ but I remember a particular hotel on the East Side, over about Lexington avenue — I remember that he said that.

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Related

Lindsey v. United States
133 F.2d 368 (D.C. Circuit, 1942)
New England Newspaper Pub. Co. v. Bonner
68 F.2d 880 (First Circuit, 1934)
Heard v. United States
255 F. 829 (Eighth Circuit, 1919)
Safford v. United States
252 F. 471 (Second Circuit, 1918)

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Bluebook (online)
233 F. 495, 147 C.C.A. 381, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/safford-v-united-states-ca2-1916.