United States v. Joseph v. Moriarity

327 F.2d 345, 1964 U.S. App. LEXIS 6504
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedFebruary 3, 1964
Docket14287, 14288
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 327 F.2d 345 (United States v. Joseph v. Moriarity) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Joseph v. Moriarity, 327 F.2d 345, 1964 U.S. App. LEXIS 6504 (3d Cir. 1964).

Opinion

McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was convicted of being engaged in the business of accepting wagers and failing to pay the occupational tax in connection therewith, in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 7262, 7203.

The application for the issuance of the warrant was supported by the affidavits of Irving B. Dubow and A. Joseph Tos-cano, Special Agents, Intelligence Division, Internal Revenue Service. Both affidavits were executed June 28, 1961. The central problem is whether these affidavits contained sufficient evidence to establish probable cause to search appellant’s residence, 18A Hamilton Place, Jersey City, New Jersey. Agent Dubow stated that on September 29, 1960, he had participated in the execution of a search warrant on the same premises, appellant’s home. At that time, he stated, “There were seized within, on the upper and lower floors, cartons containing packets of coded current lottery number slips, an adding machine, records, wagering paraphernalia and secreted currency in excess of $50,000.00.”

Agent Toscano in his affidavit said that, “Joseph Moriarity has a criminal record dating from at least December *346 26, 1930 and continuing until July 1960. He was arrested six times for possession of numbers slips and in July 1960, was arrested by Special Agents of the Intelligence Division for conducting a gambling operation in violation of Sections 4401, 4411, and 4412, and 7203, Title 26, United States Code.”

Toscano, with “ * * * previous experience in investigating wagering activities in many states for the United States Treasury Department, observed appellant on numerous occasions in May and June 1961 in the vicinity of York Street near Van Vorst and Warren Streets, Jersey City, around five o’clock in the afternoon. During that period he often saw a particular woman in various cars being driven into that area and there park. Shortly thereafter appellant, mostly driving a car affiant knew to be his, would appear and drive to the woman’s car. The first time affiant observed such action, the woman handed appellant “a white stuffed envelope”. The next two times she gave him “a package”. Affiant saw similar meetings between the two at least seventeen times between May 19,1961 and June 21, 1961. Within that same span he “ * * saw other male individuals approach Joseph Moriarity and hand him something small or they would get into his ear for a short period of time, then leave again. One of those men drove a Tan Dodge car, New Jersey License FSI 613, and he entered Moriarity’s automobile at about 5:20 P.M. each day” for eight days in June 1961 while affiant was checking on appellant. On May 24, 1961, affiant observed appellant “ * * * taking many stuffed envelopes from large shopping bags and he appeared to be checking the envelopes for notations. Occasionally he would open one of the stuffed envelopes and check it carefully. I saw him do this with three or four large shopping bags partially full of stuffed envelopes.”

Agent Toscano said that the above mentioned envelopes and packages " * * * were similar in size to those commonly found in a numbers operation.” He stated* * * I believe that Moriarity’s actions and manner of circuitous driving after he received packages from individuals in cars was like that used by persons engaged in the numbers lottery operation.”

On one occasion the above mentioned woman crumpled a small piece of white paper and threw it from her car. Tos-cano retrieved the paper. It was a piece of adding machine tape. There was an amount printed on it and another amount written in ink. The latter was 25% of the other sum on the tape. Also on the tape was the code mark “C5”. Search of the bet slips seized from Moriarity in July 1960 as previously noted revealed one pack with the code “C5” which contained many bet slips that “ * * * were similar and appeared to be written by the same person”.

On June 2,1961 Toscano saw Moriarity in an automobile which he had driven on one or more of the above referred to occasions, go to the area of his home at 6:03 P.M., pass his house and turn left at the first intersection. On June 10, 1961 he saw Moriarity in a 1956 black Buick, another of the cars he had used in his mentioned activities, proceeding from the vicinity of his home north on West Hamilton Place. This was about 5:50 P.M. Toscano also says: “On June 22, 1961 from 3:20 P.M. to 3:30 P.M., I saw Moriarity’s 1956 Black Buick, New Jersey License FSJ 273, parked on Cole Street near a green fence that leads to the backyard of the house next to his. At 3:30 P.M., I saw Joseph Moriarity come from the direction of his house and get in the aforementioned Buick and drive south on Cole Street, then east on 8th Street, Jersey City, New Jersey.”

Agent Dubow described following appellant on June 2,1961 at 5:05 P.M. from the vicinity of York Street to the Henderson Auto Service Center at Henderson and Seventh Streets. Dubow, in previous wagering surveillances had “ * * * observed Moriarity driving and using in his lottery operations, vehicles bearing license plate numbers registered to the Henderson Service Center.” After that, at 6:00 P.M. Moriarity proceeded past his residence 18-A West Hamilton Place, *347 "turned left at Pavonia Avenue and stopped between West Hamilton Place and Cole Street. On June 9, 1961 at about •5:50 P.M. Dubow again saw Moriarity proceed slowly past his house and turn .left into Pavonia Avenue. On June 16, 1961 at 5:50 P.M. Dubow observed Moriarty drive past his home. On all three of these instances Moriarity drove a 1956 black Buiek automobile. On June 3,1961, Agent Dubow had seen appellant, parked "in a 1956 black Buiek, directly ahead of •a late model tan Dodge automobile in the York Street area. A man was leaning ■against the Buiek and appeared to be ■conversing with appellant.

From all of the above, both agents stated that they had reason to believe that Moriarity was then using his home as a numbers lottery headquarters and that records, papers, slips, currency, equipment, etc. were concealed there “which were used and are being used in violation of the law in the operation of a lottery contrary to * * A search warrant was therefore requested.

What the affidavits present is a solid basis of fact which affords Agent Tos-cano, experienced and knowledgeable with respect to wagering activities and Agent Dubow who had participated in the execution of the prior and similar search warrant of the appellant’s residence, reasonable grounds for believing that appellant was then engaged in operating a numbers lottery and using his residence as its headquarters as he had within ten months previously. Even to a layman, that picture comes up clearly from the matter of fact statements of the agents. Appellant, with a real background in the particular field, had a beautifully simple method of running his lottery. As a matter of daily practice, around five o’clock in afternoon, he would go to a specific part of downtown Jersey City and receive from various individuals small packages “like those used by persons engaged in the numbers racket” as Toscano describes it. Other details, noted primarily in the Toscano affidavit, indicated that Moriarity as principal in a numbers lottery was in those instances collecting numbers slips from his agents. Direct inference from the evidence points to 5:00 P.M. as the approximate dead line for collections.

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

Related

El Pueblo v. Salamanca Corchado
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 2022
United States v. Donlon
334 F. Supp. 1272 (D. Delaware, 1971)
United States v. Sterling
244 F. Supp. 534 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1965)
Dominic Biondo v. United States
348 F.2d 272 (Eighth Circuit, 1965)
People v. Superior Court of Puerto Rico
91 P.R. 19 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1964)
Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico
91 P.R. Dec. 19 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
327 F.2d 345, 1964 U.S. App. LEXIS 6504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-joseph-v-moriarity-ca3-1964.