Spahr v. United States

409 F.2d 1303, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 28, 1969
DocketNo. 21324
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 409 F.2d 1303 (Spahr v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spahr v. United States, 409 F.2d 1303, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69 (9th Cir. 1969).

Opinion

POWELL, District Judge:

Appellants challenge their conviction on four counts of attempting to evade corporate income taxes for the years 1959-1962, inclusive. Appellants were officers of a California corporation known as Pioneer Dieeasters, Inc. They were responsible for the preparation of the corporate income tax returns. There is no challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. It shows four distinct schemes to evade taxes. Error is claimed in the denial by the trial court of appellants' motion to suppress evidence obtained in violation of their Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

The facts pertinent here are as follows:

Internal Revenue investigation of Pioneer Dieeasters was commenced because of an “information item,” an informer’s tip. A year and a half of intermittent investigation by special agents of the Intelligence Division preceded the events which were the basis of the motion to suppress.

In April 1964 a special agent named Byerly had charge of the investigation of the Pioneer Dieeasters. By that time it was a “numbered case,” one which had proceeded from preliminaries to full-scale examination. Through his group Chief Agent Byerly could initiate a recommendation for criminal prosecution.

On April 14,1964 Special Agent Byerly and Revenue Agent Horn of the “fraud group” of the Audit Division met by appointment with appellant Spahr at the Pioneer Dieeasters’ offices. The agents had cause to believe that fictitious transactions had been entered in the corporate records. They had not seen them. Without reconciling them with the corporate tax returns they could not determine whether taxable income had been understated. On April 14 and 16, 1964 Agents Byerly and Horn were permitted to examine and copy the corporate records. The evidence thus obtained, which constituted a substantial part of the Government’s case against defendants, was the subject of appellants’ motion to suppress.

Byerly and Horn introduced themselves as Internal. Revenue Agents. No warnings were given before the agents copied the company records. The appellants complain that this violated their Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. The corporate records were received in evidence. There was no testimony tending to show that any oral statements or admissions were made by either of the appellants tending to¡ incriminate them.

I. Right to Counsel

Appellants complain that Agents Byerly and Horn did not inform Spahr of his right to counsel before commencing their examination of the corporate records. They argue that this failure to warn constitutes denial of counsel and that it taints the proceedings to the extent that the examination was an unreasonable search and that the appellants were compelled to incriminate themselves.

Spahr asked Agent Horn whether his “representative” should be present. Agent Horn replied that “it was up to [Spahr],” and Spahr responded, “Well, he doesn’t know much about taxes anyway.” “Representative” in this context appears to refer to Spahr’s lawyer who appeared later in the investigation.

In Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 490, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964), relied on by appellants, the court discusses the stages of criminal investigation and the “focus on a particular accused.” The court later set forth a specific procedure to be followed when “custodial interrogation” was contemplated. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The “custodial interrogation” limitation provides a point of reference for law enforcement, a means of deter[1305]*1305mining when a suspect should be warned of his right to counsel.1

In Kohatsu v. United States, 351 F.2d 898, 901 (9th Cir. 1965), cert. den., 384 U.S. 1011, 86 S.Ct. 1915, 16 L.Ed.2d 1017 (1966) , a tax case, this Court said:

“In taking the phrase ‘focus on a particular suspect’ out of context, appellant would extend the rule of Escobedo beyond any logical implication of the effect of that decision. The Supreme Court in Escobedo referred to an unsolved crime. The existence of the crime was apparent. The police were seeking to identify the offender. The accused had been taken into custody. In the instant case the essential question to be determined by the investigations of the revenue agents was whether in fact any crime had been committed. The accused had not been indicted or arrested.”

The holding in Kohatsu was reaffirmed in Selinger v. Bigler, 377 F.2d 542 (9th Cir.), cert. den., 389 U.S. 904, 88 S.Ct. 212, 19 L.Ed.2d 218, reh’r den., 389 U.S. 998, 88 S.Ct. 462, 19 L.Ed.2d 503 (1967). The Kohatsu decision and the custodial interrogation rule have been relied upon by other circuits to reach the same result. Morgan v. United States, 377 F.2d 507 (1st Cir. 1967); United States v. Maius, 378 F.2d 716 (6th Cir.), cert. den., 389 U.S. 905, 88 S.Ct. 216, 19 L.Ed.2d 219 (1967); United States v. Mancuso, 378 F.2d 612 (4th Cir.), modified, 387 F.2d 376 (1967).

The Supreme Court decided Mathis v. United States, 391 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1503, 20 L.Ed.2d 381, on May 6, 1968. In the Mathis case the court reversed the 5th Circuit decision found in 376 F.2d 595 and held that the rule enunciated in Miranda v. Arizona, supra, applies to tax fraud investigations by revenue agents. At the time Mathis was interrogated he was incarcerated in the Florida State Penitentiary on an unrelated charge. The court explicitly limited its holding to “custodial interrogation” situations and quoted from Miranda as follows:

“ ‘To summarize, we hold that when an individual is taken into custody, or otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities in any significant way and is subjected to questioning, the privilege against self-incrimination is jeopardized. 384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1630.’ ” (391 U.S. 1, at p. 5, 88 S.Ct. at p. 1505).

This Court has recently expressed its reluctance to extend the Miranda rule beyond its stated limits. F. J. Buckner Co., dba United Engineering v. N. L. R. B., 401 F.2d 910, 914 (9th Cir. 10/1/68), cert. den., 393 U.S. 1084, 89 S. Ct. 868, 21 L.Ed.2d 777 (Feb. 24, 1969), Spahr was not in custody or deprived of his freedom in any way when he consented to the examination and copying of the corporate records. The agents were not required to advise him of the right to counsel. No deprivation of Fourth, Fifth or Sixth Amendment rights should be predicated upon failure to give a warning that was not required.

II. Warnings of Fourth Amendment Rights

The Supreme Court in Mancusi v. De Forte, 392 U.S. 364, 88 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
409 F.2d 1303, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spahr-v-united-states-ca9-1969.