United States v. Michael A. S. Makris

483 F.2d 1082
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided September 7, 1973·No. 72-2915·Published·Cited by 32 cases

Opinion

*1084 CLARK, Circuit Judge:

Michael A. S. Makris was convicted in a non-jury trial on three counts of perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1621. On appeal Makris makes three primary contentions: (1) his sworn answers to questions propounded by an examiner for the Securities and Exchange Commission were not perjurious; (2) the evidence was insufficient to support the court’s finding that he was sane at the time of the alleged offenses; and (3) he was improperly denied a hearing under 18 U.S.C. § 4244 to determine his competency to stand trial.

We find that the court below erred in denying Makris the full procedural rights mandated by 18 U.S.C. § 4244, and therefore remand for further proceedings in respect to the appellant’s ability at the time of trial to participate in his own defense. 1 Regardless of the outcome of this required procedure, the remaining points raised ought to be reached now. If Makris was competent to stand trial, then such rulings end the cause. If he was not competent, the resolutions will guide any retrial that may be had.

PERJURY

In December 1970 Makris appeared before officers of the Securities and Exchange Commission to testify concerning his connection with National Bankers Life Insurance Company and Ling & Company. Information available to the Commission indicated that Makris had been a promoter of securities transactions involving the two companies under investigation. The first transaction involved Prank Sharp, a Houston banker, real estate developer, and principal party in both the Sharpstown State Bank and the National Bankers Life Insurance Company. The indications were that in contacts with Sharp, Makris had offered to obtain access to a large fund of bonds and other blue-chip securities of major American corporations which were reportedly held by bankers in Switzerland. The alleged scheme entailed the purchase of the securities, worth up to $20.0,000,000, for as little as ten percent of their face value. The SEC also thought that Sharp and Makris had contacted members of the Jesuit Order for the purpose of obtaining “seed” money for the purchase of the securities. The second and less grandiose transaction involved the purchase of control in a small West Virginia oil company, Red Rock Petroleum, and the fraudulent inflation of the market value of its stock in order to finance the acquisition of a Houston-based food processing company and restaurant chain.

Makris was convicted on three counts of perjury in regard to his testimony before the SEC. 2 He now contends that as to each count the evidence was insufficient to establish the knowing falsity of his sworn responses required to sustain a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1621. 3

The basic element of the crime of perjury is that the challenged sworn testimony must be false. No one may be lawfully convicted of perjury where he gives an answer which is “literally accurate, technically responsive, or legal *1085 ly truthful.” United States v. Wall, 371 F.2d 398, 400 (6th Cir. 1967); Smith v. United States, 169 F.2d 118, 121 (6th Cir. 1948). It is the obligation of the government to prove to a moral certainty that the defendant “purposefully misstated the fact knowing it to be false and untrue.” Van Liew v. United States, 321 F.2d 674, 679 (5th Cir. 1963).

In Count I Makris was convicted on the basis of the following testimony concerning his business dealings with Frank Sharp:

Q. All right. In connection with— let’s call it the securities aspect here — have you ever indicated to Mr. Sharp — we were talking about this trust fund, so to speak, of securities allegedly deposited by refugees of Nazi Germany— that you might be able to obtain an interest for him in this or to bring these securities to the United States for his benefit ?

A. None at all.

Q. All right.

A. Not at all. Mr. Sharp, like I say, is a very quiet person.
Q. Yes.
A. I had no conversation with him about it.

Makris contends that the government failed to prove the falsity of his negative responses to the specific question propounded by the SEC interrogator. Precise testimony was adduced at the trial below showing that Makris had discussed with Frank Sharp a scheme to obtain an interest in securities Makris represented were deposited in European banks. However, the specific question which is the basis of Count I is whether Makris had promised to obtain an interest in, or to return to the United States, a particular group of securities, specifically characterized as “ . . . this trust fund ... of securities allegedly deposited by refugees of Nazi Germany. . . .” The immediately preceding portion of the transcript indicates that “this trust fund” refers to a group of securities “ . . . deposited in Zurich, Switzerland.” 4

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United States v. Michael A. S. Makris, 483 F.2d 1082 (5th Cir. 1973).

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