United States v. Weber

71 F. Supp. 88, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2673
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 6, 1947
DocketNo. 46 Cr. 164
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 71 F. Supp. 88 (United States v. Weber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Weber, 71 F. Supp. 88, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2673 (N.D. Ill. 1947).

Opinion

SULLIVAN, District Judge.

March 8, 1946, the grand jury returned an indictment against one Joseph Weber, charging him with violating Sec. 746(a) (18), Title 8 U.S.C.A. The indictment sets out that on September 27, 1945, at Chicago, Illinois, Joseph Weber, also under a number of aliases, being an alien, falsely represented himself to the Andrew Company, of. Chicago, and to its officials, as being a citizen of the United States, without having been naturalized or admitted to citizenship, and without otherwise being a citizen of the United States.

October 8, 1946, defendant, under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A. following section 687, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground, first, that Sec. 746(a) (18), Title 8 U.S.C.A. is unconstitutional; and second, that the indictment does not state facts sufficient to constitute an offense, and does not meet the requirements of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. The motion also charges that the indictment is duplicitous and subjects the defendant to the danger of double jeopardy.

Constitutionality of the statute here in ■question _ having been determined by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, defendant does not urge that objection.

Defendant contends that the indictment is insufficient for the reason that it fails to ■charge that the false representation of citizenship was made under circumstances involving fraud, and that fraud, being one •of the elements of the crime, it must be charged in the indictment.

! In United States v. Tandaric, 7 Cir., 152 F.2d 3, 5, cited by both sides, the defendant was indicted for falsely representing himself to be a citizen of the United States to a named corporation. On appeal from a judgment sentencing him to imprisonment, the defendant challenged the validity of Subsection (a) (18), Sec. 746, Title 8 U.S. C.A., on the ground that it was repugnant to the constitutional guarantees of free speech, free press, and due process, contending that under the broad language of the statute a mere false representation of citizenship subjects the accused to punishment, without regard to whether it was made under circumstances involving fraud. Sufficiency of the indictment, however, was not raised. Judge Kerner, speaking for the court, said:

“In the case of United States v. Achtner, 2 Cir., 144 F.2d 49, 51, it was claimed that the statute was unconstitutional. The court, after relating the history and the purpose of the statute, held it was constitutional and said: ‘Under this statute no limitation was placed upon the circumstances under which and the persons to whom the false representation was made, as long as it was for a “fraudulent purpose.” ’ We approve the conclusion and the reasoning of the court.”

It is therefore apparent that in order to render a false representation as to citizenship a crime, it must be made for a fraudulent purpose, which, by interpretation, has become an essential ingredient of the crime. The false representation also must be made to one who has a right to inquire into or has an adequate reason for ascertaining the citizenship of the one making the representation. In United States v. Achtner, 144 F.2d 49, 52, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said:

“But we agree with the District Court that the representation of citizenship must still be made to a person having some right to inquire or adequate reason for ascertaining a defendant’s citizenship; it is not to be assumed that so severe a penalty is intended for words spoken as a mere boast or jest or to stop the prying of some busybody, and the use of the words ‘knowingly’ and ‘falsely’ implies otherwise. Thus, it is said that the word ‘falsely,’ particularly in a criminal statute, suggests something mare than a mere untruth and includes ‘perfidiously’ or ‘treacherously’ ”.

[90]*90The question before me in the present case is whether an indictment which fails to charge an element of a statutory crime is sufficient, when such element is not actually contained in the statute but rather is interpreted into it, as was done by the Circuit Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Second Circuits in the Tandaric and Achtner cases.

Bishop’s New Criminal Procedure, 2d Ed. 1913, sections 612, 626 and 628, read as follows:

“Sec 612. All ingredients which enter into the offense, whether set down in the statute in terms or interpreted into it, must be stated.”

“Sec. 626. The elements from an interpretation of the statute must be as much covered by the indictment as those in its words.”

“Sec. 628. Interpreted statute. — To return to the rule that the indictment must cover the interpreted statute rather than the literal statute. If a meaning narrower than the words is given by interpretation an indictment simply in the statutory words will be ill; it must follow the narrower construction.”

In United States v. Carll, 105 U.S. 611, 26 L.Ed. 1135, the Supreme Court said:

“In an indictment upon a statute, it is not sufficient to set forth the offense in the words of the statute, unless these words of themselves fully, directly and expressly, without any uncertainty or ambiguity, set forth all of the elements necessary to constitute the offense intended to be punished; and the fact that the statute in question, read in the light of the common law, and of other statutes on the like matter, enables the court to infer the intent of the legislature, does not dispense with the necessity of alleging in the indictment all the facts necessary to bring the case within that intent. United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542, 557-558, 23 L.Ed. 588.”

In United States v. Cruikshank et al., 92 U.S. 542, 23 L.Ed. 588, the Supreme Court said:

“It is an elementary principle of criminal pleading, that where the definition of an offense, whether it be at common law or by statute, ‘includes generic terms, it is not sufficient that the indictment shall charge the offense in the same generic terms as in the definition; but it must state the species; it must descend to particulars.’ I Arch.Cr.Pr. and PI. 291. The object of the indictment is, first, to furnish the accused with such a description of the charge against him as will enable him to make his defense, and avail himself of his conviction or acquittal for protection against a further prosecution for the same cause; and, second, to inform the court of the facts alleged so that it may decide whether they are sufficient in law to support a conviction, if one should be had. For this, facts are to be stated, not conclusions of law alone. A crime is made of acts and intent; and these must be set forth in the indictment with reasonable particularity of time, place and circumstances.”

In Fontana v. United States, 262 F. 283, 288, decided by the CCA for the 8th Circuit, Judge Sanborn, speaking for the court said:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 F. Supp. 88, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-weber-ilnd-1947.