United States v. Harris

275 F. Supp. 161, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8602
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedNovember 14, 1967
DocketCrim. No. 13219
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 275 F. Supp. 161 (United States v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Harris, 275 F. Supp. 161, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8602 (E.D. Va. 1967).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

WALTER E. HOFFMAN, Chief Judge.

The defendant is before the Court on a seven-count indictment charging violations of 18 U.S.C.A. Section 1952, commonly denominated the antiracketeering [162]*162statute1 which became the law of the land on September 13, 1961.

As applied to the facts of this case, the crimes committed were using the mails in interstate commerce with intent to promote, manage, carry on, or facilitating the promotion, management, or carrying on an unlawful activity namely, the ancient game of dice throwing, more commonly referred to as crap games, and thereafter performing or attempting to perform such “unlawful activity” in the form of a business enterprise involving gambling.

Manifestly the statute was not intended to reach all participants in dice games. Nevertheless, it apparently is sufficiently broad to encompass those individuals using an interstate facility, including the mails, where the interstate activity is sufficiently related to the subsequent performance or attempted performance of any gambling-business enterprise. In a prosecution under a related statute, 18 U.S.C. Section 1953, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Fabrizio, 385 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 457, 17 L.Ed.2d 351 (1966), upheld an indictment charging Fabrizio with knowingly carrying in interstate commerce, from New Hampshire to New York, 75 acknowledgments of purchase for a sweepstake race in New Hampshire (where such sweepstakes are legal) to be used, and adapted, devised and designed for use, in a wagering pool, i. e., a sweepstake race in New Hampshire. The broad scope of the statute was there emphasized. The Supreme Court, in refuting the contention that Fabrizio had “no use” in the sweepstakes, said: “But common sense and ordinary experience negative such a formalistic conclusion.” It was held that, even though the indictment did not so charge, it was sufficiently broad to include a contention that the tickets purchased and transported in interstate commerce by Fabrizio were in fact being delivered to out-of-state ticket owners who had not themselves purchased the tickets in New Hampshire but had done so through Fabrizio; this despite the fact that the bill of particulars made no mention of this contention. Fabrizio likewise stands for the principle that Section 1953 is not limited to organized crime.

On September 23, 1966, at approximately 11:30 a. m., Agents Egan and Sanderlin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived at the defendant’s home in Portsmouth, Virginia, armed with a search warrant.2 After identifying themselves and fully explaining to the defendant his constitutional rights in accordance with Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, the search revealed, among other items, 101 boxes of dice (4 to a box), 59 loose dice, 14 empty dice boxes (11 bearing the label of H. C. Edwards & Co. as hereinafter described) and 5 dice cups. Included among the 101 boxes were 97 bearing the label, “Bryant 9-2082. Per dice hard, true and square, H. C. Edwards & Co., 315 West 39th Street, New York, New York.” According to a stipulation duly signed by the defendant and his counsel, the evidence [163]*163conclusively establishes that the defendant ordered from H. C. Edwards & Company, and the latter shipped to the defendant, on the dates alleged in the indictment quantities of dice, and that such dice seized on September 23, 1966, were manufactured by this concern.

The record indicates that the dice were of varying dimensions; either % of an inch, of an inch, or % of an inch. Unlike the drugstore variety dice, the dice manufactured by H. C. Edwards & Company in New York are perfected to within 10/iooo of an inch and are not available locally at retail stores; they are priced at 80 cents each, and are used almost exclusively in professional dice games, although it must be conceded that these dice could be used in any harmless home game not involving gambling.

During the course of the search of the premises, and after defendant had been fully advised of his rights, defendant made certain damaging statements. Agent Sanderlin located a telephone bill for the premises described as 1442 East Ocean View Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia. When questioned as to these premises defendant said, “Yes, that’s my place, and I’ve used these dice to hold a crap game down there.” Defendant was arrested at 12:26 p. m. and arrangements were immediately made to take him before a United States Commissioner for a hearing that same afternoon at 3:30 or 4:00 p. m. Again fully advised of his constitutional rights by the Commissioner, including the right to remain silent and the right to counsel, defendant executed a waiver of his right to counsel and made certain other damaging statements. According to Agent Egan, defendant told the Commissioner “that the dice that we [the agents] had obtained at his house on that day pursuant to the search warrant had been ordered by him from New York for the specific purpose to use in a crap game in Norfolk,” and that “He [the defendant] had been playing dice all his life and shooting crap for a living and saw nothing wrong with it.”3

Further testimony developed that defendant rented an unfurnished (except for a stove and refrigerator) house at 1442 East Ocean View Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia, for the period beginning July 1, 1965, and ending June 30, 1966. The defendant paid, on July 29, 1965, the sum of $1,550.00 for one year’s rent in advance, plus a $50.00 security deposit, and the real estate agent mailed the receipt and the keys to the defendant at defendant’s home at 300 Constitution Avenue, Portsmouth, Virginia.

The professional and semi-professional gamblers called to testify each stated that the dice seized pursuant to the search warrant were “similar” to dice used in various dice games. No single witness identified the defendant as being present at any dice game at 1442 East Ocean View Avenue, although one witness admitted attending a dice game in a “sparsely furnished” house on East Ocean View Avenue unidentified by number.

That defendant was engaged in a business enterprise involving gambling is corroborated by the testimony of Julius S. Peck, the president of Peck Iron and Metal Company whose office is located at 3850 Elm Avenue (formerly King’s Highway), Portsmouth, Virginia. Peck, while refusing to concede that he had been engaged in any dice games with defendant within a period of “about” two years prior to the hearing on July 24, 1967, freely admitted that dice games had been staged at his place of business commencing approximately eight years ago. Peck described these games as “friendly” and referred to the defendant as a “mediator,” and “arbitrator,” and a “moderator.” The games were conducted on an average of twice each month, [164]*164and the number of participants ranged from 2 to 4 players; never more than 4. Defendant furnished the dice on some occasions; Peck at other times. Peck obtained his dice from Las Vegas. Examining the seized dice, Peck referred to them as “similar in appearance” to the dice used in games in which defendant and Peck participated. As “friendly” as these games may have appeared to Peck, the evidence discloses that the defendant was more than a casual participant.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Young
406 N.E.2d 499 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)
United States v. Julius Salsbury
430 F.2d 1045 (Fourth Circuit, 1970)
Thomas Edward Hanley v. United States
416 F.2d 1160 (Fifth Circuit, 1969)
United States v. Irving Thomas Harris
399 F.2d 687 (Fourth Circuit, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 F. Supp. 161, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-harris-vaed-1967.