United States v. Antonio Pereira Torres

457 F.2d 810

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: April 24, 1972
• Docket: 71-2709
• Status: Published

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

The conviction of defendant for violations of the Mann Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2421, is affirmed. Only a single issue justifies discussion. The interstate transportation involved was from New York to Florida, by defendant, another male and four women, some of whom testified to acts of prostitution committed after arrival in Florida. The defendant testified that the trip was for purposes not illegal. In rebuttal the government introduced, over objection, evidence by police officers of unrelated incidents which occurred in New York as much as two years prior to the trip to Florida, some of which tended to show that defendant was engaged in prostitution-related activities with one or more of the women who went to Florida with him. Another incident tended to show that defendant had abused a woman, forced her into prostitution, and threatened her when she attempted to escape. Since defendant had attributed the trip to Florida to innocent purposes, these otherwise unrelated incidents were admissible on the issue of his intent in transporting the women interstate, Bridges v. United States, 376 F.2d 22 (5th Cir. 1967); United States v. Szy-manski, 431 F.2d 946 (9th Cir. 1970).

Affirmed.