United States v. Bruno Anthony Piet and Delmar L. Markham

498 F.2d 178
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 18, 1974
Docket73-2137, 73-2138
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 498 F.2d 178 (United States v. Bruno Anthony Piet and Delmar L. Markham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bruno Anthony Piet and Delmar L. Markham, 498 F.2d 178 (7th Cir. 1974).

Opinion

CASTLE, Circuit Judge.

Defendants Bruno Piet and Delmar Markham appeal their jury convictions on one count of unlawfully possessing goods stolen from interstate commerce, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 659. 1 On appeal, Piet and Markham assert that the indictment was insufficient to state an offense, that the evidence was insufficient to prove that Piet possessed stolen goods, that the district court erroneously denied a motion to suppress the stolen goods from evidence, and that the government permitted a key witness to perjure himself in denying the existence of a plea bargain. We have considered these issues, and we affirm the convictions.

On March 19, 1973, Russell Johnson, a truck driver, while making a delivery to the Chippewa-McClain Motor Freight Co. of Bedford Park, Illinois, agreed to receive some Black and Decker lawn edgers from Bruno Piet, a Chippewa dock hand; the two men agreed to split the proceeds from Johnson’s planned sale of the edgers. Later, Johnson telephoned Delmar Markham to inquire whether he could “use” the edgers, and Markham directed Johnson to transport them to the Able warehouse. The men *180 fixed the sale terms, and subsequently, Johnson found $124 at the location where he had asked Markham to deliver payment. One March 21, Markham telephoned Frank Smith, acting warehouse foreman, and requested that one-half of the edgers be separated; Markham picked up these edgers later that afternoon.

Piet claims that the indictment was insufficient to state an offense because it specified the precise location of the theft, rather than any particular facility enumerated in the statute. This court rejected a similar contention in United States v. D’Antonio, 342 F.2d 667 (7th Cir. 1965), in finding that “a dock of Day’s Transfer Co.,” referred to facilities set forth in the statute. Similarly, “Chippewa-McClain Motor Freight Company, Bedford Park, Illinois” connotes such statutory terms as “platform or depot,” “station” and “storage facility.” United States v. Knight, 451 F.2d 275 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. den., 405 U.S. 965, 92 S.Ct. 1171, 31 L.Ed.2d 240 (1972), a case indistinguishable from ours, found that an indictment specifying “Yellow Freight System terminal” was sufficient because there was no significant distinction between the words of the indictment and those of the statute. Accord, Dunson v. United States, 404 F.2d 447 (9th Cir. 1968), cert. den., 393 U.S. 1111, 89 S.Ct. 925, 21 L.Ed.2d 808 (1969). United States v. Manuszak, 234 F.2d 421 (3rd Cir. 1956), on which the defendants rely, is inapposite, for the indictment there failed to specify any specific facility or place from which the goods had been stolen. We find that the indictment sufficiently apprised the defendants of the nature of the crime with which they were charged. See, Hagner v. United States, 285 U.S. 427, 52 S.Ct. 417, 76 L.Ed. 861 (1932).

Piet also argues that his indictment represents an unwarranted extension of federal jurisdiction beyond the scope of congressional intent in drafting the statute. We cannot agree. “The language of section 659 evidences a clear purpose to reach depredations affecting any conceivable instrumentality by which the interstate transportation of freight may be accomplished.” Dunson v. United States, supra, at 448. That Congress is empowered to protect interstate commerce by proscribing possession of goods stolen from interstate shipment is beyond cavil, see, Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111, 63 S.Ct. 82, 87 L.Ed. 122 (1942); whether such power was wisely exercised through the enactment of section 659 is clearly improperly addressed to this branch of government.

Piet next contends that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he was in actual possession of the lawn edgers; therefore the court improperly denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), we find there was sufficient evidence for the jury to determine that Piet had possession of the edgers, as charged in the indictment. After determining on March 19, 1973 that Johnson would accept any merchandise which Piet might be able to supply to him, Piet learned from a coworker that a load of Black and Decker lawn edgers, marked “Richmond freight,” was lying on the dock. Piet then told Johnson that he would try to load the edgers on the back of Johnson’s trailer. Thereafter, Piet was seen loading the lawn edgers into a truck. From this evidence, the jury could properly infer that Piet had established the requisite dominion and control over the property at issue. Accord, United States v. Parent, 484 F.2d 726 (7th Cir. 1973); United States v. Catalano, 450 F.2d 985 (7th Cir. 1971), cert. den., 405 U.S. 928, 92 S.Ct. 980, 30 L.Ed.2d 802 (1972). The case is therefore distinguishable from United States v. Nitti, 444 F.2d 1056 (7th Cir. 1971), where the court expressly noted that the defendant had no knowledge of the stolen property.

Markham contends that his motion to suppress the lawn edgers from *181 evidence was erroneously denied because (1) the March 23, 1973 FBI inspection of the Able warehouse storage room in which Markham’s goods were kept was unlawful, (2) that inspection tainted the March 26, 1973 search and seizure of Markham’s goods stored at the warehouse, and (3) Markham’s consent to the March 26 search was improperly induced. Respecting the first point, Markham asserts that Frank Smith lacked the authority to permit FBI agents to inspect a storage room at the warehouse in which Markham’s goods were commingled with those of others who leased space at the facility. In United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242, 42 USLW 4252 (1974), the Supreme Court reiterated that permission to search may be obtained from a third party who possessed either common authority over or other sufficient relationship to the premises or effects. “The authority which justifies third-party consent does not rest upon the law of property . . . [but rather] on mutual use of the property by persons generally having joint access or control for most purposes.” Id. at 4254 n. 7, 94 S.Ct. 993. Frank Smith introduced himself as the warehouse foreman and stated that he was in charge in the owner’s absence. Smith also told the FBI agents that he had one of two keys to the common storage area where Markham’s goods were kept and that Markham did not have a key to the facility.

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Bluebook (online)
498 F.2d 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bruno-anthony-piet-and-delmar-l-markham-ca7-1974.