United States v. McGann

161 F. Supp. 629, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2406
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedMay 2, 1958
DocketCrim. A. No. 23017
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 161 F. Supp. 629 (United States v. McGann) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. McGann, 161 F. Supp. 629, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2406 (D. Md. 1958).

Opinion

CHESNUT, District Judge.

One of the defendants in the above case, Clarence Duke McGann, has now filed a second petition for release on habeas corpus. On September 20, 1954, and after the appointment of counsel for him by the court, the defendant in the presence of counsel entered a plea of “guilty” on indictment No. 23017, charging him, among other things, with the offense of armed robbery of a National Bank under title 18 U.S.C. § 2113, subsection (d). The authorized maximum sentence by this subsection was 25 years and the sentence imposed was imprisonment for 20 years.

On the same day, in the presence of counsel, the defendant entered a plea of “guilty” to the charge in indictment No. 23023 for interstate transportation of a known stolen motor vehicle, and was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 5 years under title 18 U.S.C. § 2312, to run concurrently with the 20-year sentence imposed in case No. 23017.

On the same day, in the presence of counsel, the defendant also entered a plea of “guilty” to the indictment in case No. 23024 charging, under title 18 U.S.C. §§ 2111 and 7(3), that he did “by intimidation, unlawfully and feloniously take from the presence of Herbert D. Pinckney and Lila Westcamp, a thing of [631]*631value, to wit, money in the amount of $124,000, more or less” * * * “on lands within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States which had theretofore been acquired for the use of the United States, and then and there were under the jurisdiction thereof, to wit, Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland.” The sentence imposed in that case was imprisonment for 5 years-to run concurrently with the 20-year sentence in case No. 23017.

The substance of the defendant’s present petition is his allegation that he has now served the two five-year sentences and his contention is that he should now be released from the unexpired portion of the 20-year sentence because there was duplicity between the charge in case 23024 and case 23017.

As the petition shows that the defendant is now imprisoned at Leavenworth, Kansas, and is not within the District of Maryland, it is clear that this court has no authority to entertain the petition for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus; but I have treated the matter as a petition for vacation of sentence under title 28 U.S.C. § 2255. So treated, I find no legal merit in the contention for the reasons now to be stated.

In his petition to support the contention of duplicity the defendant states the principle as follows: “The test for determining whether offenses charged in two indictments are identical is whether the fact alleged in one, if offered in support of the other will sustain a conviction”. Accepting this test for the purposes of this case, it is quite clear that the indictments are not identical because they involve one or more essential elements of the offenses charged which are different in the several indictments, and of course, therefore, as each essential element of the offense charged would have to be proven, it does not follow that the proof of facts sufficient to support one charge would necessarily also sustain a conviction on the other charge or charges.

The three indictments are respectively based on three different sections of title 18 U.S.C. In case 23017, an essential element of the indictment is that the offense related to the taking of money belonging to a National Bank, a member bank of the Federal Reserve System. In case 23024 an essential element of the indictment was that the money was taken from the bank “on land within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States which had theretofore been acquired for the use of the United States and then and there were under the jurisdiction thereof, to wit, Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland”. The charge in 23017 did not base the jurisdiction on the commission of the offense on a “federal reservation”, and the indictment in 23024 did not describe the moneys taken as moneys of a National Bank. It is true that in both indictments the money taken was the sum of $124,000, more or less, and the place where the robbery occurred was Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland; but each indictment contained an essential element of jurisdiction or description of the offense not appearing in the other.

The indictment in 23017 was in four counts all based on title 18 U.S.C. § 2113. The first count charged that on August 13, 1954 the defendants “at the Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland, did, by intimidation, take from the presence of Herbert D. Pinckney and Lila Westcamp, employees of the First National Bank of Southern Maryland, money in the amount of $124,000, more or less, which said money was in the care, custody, control and management and possession of the said First National Bank of Southern Maryland, a member bank of the Federal Reserve System and a banking institution organized and operating under the laws of the United States, and a bank, the deposits of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.” This count was-based on subsections (a) and (f) of sec[632]*632tion 2113. The one count in case 23024 charged that the defendants “on or about the 13th day of August, 1954, on lands within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States which had theretofore been acquired for the use of the United States and then and there were under the jurisdiction thereof, to wit, Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland, did, by intimidation, unlawfully and felon-iously take from the presence of Herbert D. Pinckney and Lila Westcamp, a thing of value, to wit, money in the amount of $124,000, more or less.” This indictment was based on title 18 U.S.C. §§ 2111 and 7(3). The present contention of this defendant seems to be that the one count in case 23024 is the same charge contained in count one of 23017; but as pointed out above, each charge contains as essential element not found in the other in that 23017 required proof that the moneys were taken from a National Bank, a member of the Federal Reserve System; while in 23024 the jurisdiction of the court was based on the averment that the moneys were taken from two individuals on a federal reservation. Therefore the second charge was not as a matter of criminal pleading technically duplicitous. The defendant cites Cal-varesi v. United States, 10 Cir., 216 F.2d 891, in support of his contention to the contrary but on examination of the case I find it distinguishable.

Furthermore, the defendant’s present complaint entirely overlooks the fourth count of case 23017. The second and third counts are not in point at all with respect to alleged duplicity.

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Related

United States v. McGann
202 F. Supp. 945 (D. Maryland, 1962)
McGann v. United States
200 F. Supp. 633 (D. Maryland, 1961)
Clarence Duke McGann v. United States
261 F.2d 956 (Fourth Circuit, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
161 F. Supp. 629, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mcgann-mdd-1958.