United States v. John Jacob Wells

766 F.2d 12, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20073
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJune 26, 1985
Docket84-1864
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 766 F.2d 12 (United States v. John Jacob Wells) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. John Jacob Wells, 766 F.2d 12, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20073 (1st Cir. 1985).

Opinion

VAN DUSEN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Defendant, John Jacob Wells, was indicted for violating the federal bail-jumping statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3150 (1982). 1 The indictment resulted from defendants’ failure to appear at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota (FCI-Sandstone), to begin serving a five-year prison sentence. Following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, defendant was convicted of the bail-jumping offense and was given a three-year prison sentence to run consecutively to his existing five-year sentence.

Defendant filed a timely appeal to this court, contending that the evidence adduced against him at trial failed to establish a violation of section 3150. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1982). We will affirm for the reasons stated in this opinion.

I. Factual History

On July 16, 1981, defendant Wells was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment following his conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana. At the sentencing proceeding, defendant sought permission from the district court to surrender voluntarily or “self-report” to the institution at which he was to serve his sentence. The district court granted the request and ordered defendant to' report for service of his sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons within thirty days of the date of sentencing or, if defendant appealed his conviction, within thirty days of the date of affirmance by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Tr. at 12. Defendant then executed an appearance bond that day after the district court set bail pending appeal. The bond provided that defendant appear “at such ... places as a defendant may be required to appear in accordance with any and all other directions relating to the defendant’s appearance in the above-entitled matter as may be given or issued by the magistrate or the United States District Court for the District of Maine.” Tr. at 14.

*15 Defendant’s conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana was affirmed by a judgment of this court filed on January 25, 1983. See United States v. Hensel, 699 F.2d 18 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 958, 103 S.Ct. 2431, 77 L.Ed.2d 1317 (1983). This court’s mandate of affirmance was issued on March 28, 1983. Following the affirmance, the Bureau of Prisons determined that defendant should serve his sentence at FCI-Sandstone. The Bureau set April 22, 1983, as the date for defendant to report to that institution, which date was twenty-five days after the mandate issued. On April 15, 1983, the United States Marshals Service in Savannah, Georgia, notified defendant of his obligation to surrender at FCI-Sandstone at noon on April 22. In addition, the United States Marshals Service in Portland, Maine, sent a letter to defendant’s trial attorney informing him of the time and place for defendant to report.

Defendant did not report to FCI-Sandstone on April 22 or at any time thereafter. The toll records for defendant’s telephone in Cobbtown, Georgia, indicate that at 9:55 a.m. on April 22, 1983, a collect call was billed to that number from the Atlanta, Georgia, airport. Later that day, at 11:51 p.m., another collect call was charged to defendant’s telephone number from the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport — an airport near FCI-Sandstone.

A warrant for the arrest of defendant on bail-jumping charges was then issued. On November 21, 1983, Wells was indicted for willfully failing to appear as required at FCI-Sandstone in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3150. Defendant was apprehended on January 9, 1984, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying documents that identified him by the name of Claude Cantrell. He also drove a motor vehicle registered in the name of Claude Cantrell. Following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, defendant was convicted of violating section 3150 and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

II. “Court or Judicial Officer” under 18 U.S.C. § 3150

Defendant Wells was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 3150, which reads in relevant part:

“§ 3150. Penalties for failure to appear Whoever, having been released pursuant to this chapter, willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required, shall, subject to the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, incur a forfeiture of any security which was given or pledged for his release, and, in addition, shall, (1) if he was released in connection with a charge of felony, or while awaiting sentence or pending appeal or certiorari after conviction of any offense, be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both,____”

18 U.S.C. § 3150 (1982) (repealed 1984, current version to be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3146).

The indictment alleged that defendant failed to appear as required at the Federal Correctional Institution at Sandstone, Minnesota. Defendant contends that FCI-Sandstone does not fit within the meaning of the phrase “court or judicial officer” in section 3150 and that, therefore, the district court erred in instructing the jury that failure to report to a United States prison falls within the purview of the statute. 2

*16 In support of his contention, defendant relies principally on the Fifth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Clark, 412 F.2d 885 (5th Cir.1969). The facts of that case are as follows. Clark was adjudged guilty in the district court following his entry of a guilty plea. The district court then ordered Clark released on his own recognizance while he awaited sentencing. Clark signed an appearance bond, which conditioned his release on not departing from a particular geographical area. The trial judge advised Clark of the potential penalties he might incur for violating the conditions of his bond. The court then apparently issued a directive that Clark report to a probation officer, who was preparing Clark’s presen-tence report. The precise requirements of the court’s directive (i.e., how often to report to the probation officer) and the consequences for failure to follow the directive, are uncertain.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
766 F.2d 12, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-john-jacob-wells-ca1-1985.