Victor L. De Casaus v. United States

250 F.2d 150

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: January 14, 1958
• Docket: 15389_1
• Status: Published

Opinions

HEALY, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was convicted by a jury of the offense of making a false statement to an investigating officer of the Commodity Credit Corporation (hereafter CCC) in violation of 15 U.S.C.A. § 714m.¹ He attacks his conviction generally as being based on an insufficient indictment and as not being supported by the evidence. The indictment is set out in footnote² below.

The proof in the case for the government was that appellant, as general manager of Casaus Company, had negotiated the purchase for export of some 15,000 cwt. of lima beans from the CCC for a price below the domestic market price. Failure so to export rendered the Company liable to the CCC for the difference between the price paid and the domestic market price. Investigation by CCC produced evidence (introduced at the trial) showing that a substantial amount of the beans purchased from the CCC were sold domestically, and that documents supplied by Casaus Company showing export of such beans were false. The government’s chief witness was one Kennedy, a special agent of CCC. He testified that on November 1, 1954, during his investigation, he met with appellant and was shown a paper wherein appellant had stated that Casaus Company had received 15,417.20 cwt. of beans from the CCC. Kennedy testified, “Mr. Casaus said that all these beans had been exported at this time.” He further deposed that appellant stated that he “had received all lima beans under all of the transactions with the CCC and that he had exported them all.”

This evidence abundantly supported the indictment, and the latter in turn was clearly sufficient to support conviction under the statute. Compare United States v. Debrow, 346 U.S. 374, at page 376, 74 S.Ct. 113, 114, 98 L.Ed. 92.

Appellant contends that a conviction cannot be supported by a single witness to the conversation. Such argument has been rejected in this circuit in non-perjury cases. Todorow v. United States, 173 F.2d 439; Fisher v. United States, 231 F.2d 99. And it hardly need be added that, even in perjury cases, one witness corroborated, as here, by circumstantial evidence is sufficient. Weiler v. United States, 323 U.S. 606, 65 S.Ct. 548, 89 L.Ed. 495.

Appellant asserts that the statute which he is charged with violating does not apply to statements made to investigating officers. Arguments to that effect have been universally rejected in cases involving like statutes. United States v. Gilliland, 312 U.S. 86, 61 S.Ct. 518, 85 L.Ed. 598; Cohen v. United States, 9 Cir., 201 F.2d 386; Marzani V. United States, 83 U.S.App.D.C. 78, 168 F.2d 133.

Finally appellant claims error in the trial court’s refusal to allow him to search through voluminous government Customs records (some 50,000 in number). These records are kept secret by Department of Agriculture regulation in order to prevent unfair competition among shippers. On this point the issue below was whether certain export documents had been filed among these records. The nonexistence of such documents was testified to by two custodial agents, the thoroughness of their search being tested by cross-examination. This was far more than is required by Rule 44(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., incorporated by reference in Rule 27 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A.

Appellant asserts, however, that the court’s refusal to allow the search was error in light of the recent decision in Jencks v. United States, 353 U.S. 657, 77 S.Ct. 1007, 1 L.Ed.2d 1103. We think the Jencks holding has no application to the situation before us. The record shows that the testimony of the two Customs agents, mentioned above, was material only as proof of counts 1 and 3 of the indictment. After the motion for inspection had been made the government voluntarily dismissed those two counts. The testimony of the government’s witnesses therefore became immaterial to the prosecution’s case, and appellant had no need for the aid of government documents further to test the accuracy of the testimony.

Affirmed.

1 . “§ 714in. Crimes and offenses — False statements; overvalution of securities.

“(a) Whoever makes any statement knowing it to be false, or whoever willfully overvalues any security, for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Corporation, or for the purpose of obtaining for himself or another, money, property, or anything of value, under sections 714-714o of this title, or under any other Act applicable to the Corporation, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment by not more than five years, or both. * * * ”

2 . “On or about November 1, 1954 at Los Angeles, California, within the Southern District of California, Central Division, Victor L. de Casaus did make a statement knowing it to be false, for the purpose of influencing the action of the Commodity Credit Corporation, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, and for the purpose of obtaining for himself money and property and other things of value, in that he did then and there state to an officer of the United States Department of Agriculture, namely, Special Agent Doyle S. Kennedy, that as of October 6, 1954 Oasaus, Inc. had exported to the Republic of Mexico, 15,-424-cwt of lima beans which Oasaus had pui'chased from the Commodity Credit Corporation, when in truth and in fact as defendant then and there well knew, a much lesser quantity of such beans had actually been exported to the Republic of Mexico by Casaus, Inc.”