Waller v. United States

177 F.2d 171, 1949 U.S. App. LEXIS 3155
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 19, 1949
DocketNo. 12232
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 177 F.2d 171 (Waller v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waller v. United States, 177 F.2d 171, 1949 U.S. App. LEXIS 3155 (9th Cir. 1949).

Opinion

STEPHENS, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Waller was tried and convicted in the district court 'by a judge and jury on an indictment charging violation of Section 15(c) of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, Public Law 806, 80th Congress, 62 Stat. 1070, 15 U.S.C.A. § 714m(c).1 Section 15(c) of the Act-provides: “Whoever shall willfully steal, conceal, remove, dispose of, or convert to his own use or to that of another any property owned or held by, or mortgaged or pledged to, the Corporation, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more that $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.”

Appellant claims: (1) That the court erred in denying his motions for judgment of acquittal because (a) there was no substantial evidence that the property taken by appellant was owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation and (b) there was no substantial evidence of appellant’s intent to steal from the Commodity Credit Corporation, or from anyone else, and (2) that the court erred in denying a motion for a new trial on the ground of the admission into evidence of a document which was not connected with the offense charged and which was highly prejudicial to appellant.

Appellant is president of the Herrett Trucking Company (a corporation) which has its principal office in the town of Sunnyside, Washington, and owns a farm [173]*173nearby on which he keeps livestock. The company does general inter and intra-state hauling of agricultural commodities as well as other supplies and equipment and is predominantly a family affair, appellant’s two brothers also being officers thereof.

Williamson is a farmer owning property adjacent to Waller’s farm and among other things produces potatoes and has livestock. Williamson has from time to time participated in the various federal Irish potato-price-support programs administered by the Commodity Credit Corporation. A considerable portion of his 1948 crop was sold to the government and in payment he received the going or market price (over $2 per cwt.). On August 19, 1948, Williamson contracted with the Corporation to purchase 11,000 cwt. of fresh Irish potatoes for livestock feed at 100 per cwt. and paid the government $1,100.2 The contract of sale by reference to a form which was entitled “Terms and Conditions for Sale of Fresh Irish Potatoes for Livestock Feed” expressly provided:3

“Use: Purchaser agrees to use the potatoes delivered pursuant to his order for the sole purpose of feeding such potatoes to livestock. Title to the potatoes shall not pass to the purchaser until the potatoes delivered are acually fed to livestock or processed into feed for livestock.” [Emphasis added.] There is testimony, however, in the record to the effect that Williamson did not read this provision.

On August 22, 1948, Williamson elicited the aid of Waller’s trucks to haul purchased potatoes from the warehouse to Williamson’s feed lot. There is evidence of close friendship between the two and of frequent favors done for one another.4 Williamson had tried to'induce Waller to feed potatoes to his livestock and on the occasion to which the criminal charge relates authorized Waller to take some of the potatoes purchased from the Corporation for such purpose. On the day following such authorization, Waller sent a flat-bed truck to the warehouse and 320 sacks (16 ton) of potatoes were loaded which were [174]*174released for delivery to Williamson on account of his purchase from the Corporation. The mode of loading, as if for long distance hauling, engaged the attention of a horticulture inspector, and surveillance of the following activities ensued.

The flat-bed truck was driven to Waller’s place of business and remained parked there for most of the evening of August 23, 1948. At. about 8:00 P.M., Williamson called Waller to have the latter pick up one of Williamson’s small farm trucks at the warehouse which had been loaded with some more of the purchased potatoes and which Williamson was unable to move but wanted available for the next morning’s farm activities and definitely told Waller he could have them and to dump them at Waller’s feed lot. Waller agreed and in fact dumped that truckload at his place. While doing so, he observed the quality of the potatoes and at that moment admittedly formed the intent to take some of the 16 tons of potatoes' on the other truck and sell them for human consumption.5 Waller returned to his place of business and had the flat-bed truck, followed by a closed van, driven to Williamson’s feed lot where appellant observed that a large quantity of potatoes was on the ground. Waller thereupon resacked some 100 sacks of the potatoes from the original sacking to unmarked bags and placed them in the closed van. The remainder of the flat-bed truckload was dumped, and the closed van was driven back and parked overnight in the trucking company’s area. The resacking transpired between 11:00 P.M. and 3:00 A.M. in the morning. The next day more potatoes were obtained for Williamson by a Waller truck, part of which were dumped at Williamson’s farm and the rest (some 220 sacks) were resacked at Waller’s place of business and placed in the closed van. That evening the loaded van was driven to Portland, Oregon, where on August 25, 1948, the load (323 sacks) was sold to a produce dealer for $2.10 per cwt

Since the potato containers were not marked, the Portland produce dealer required that they be tagged and graded. They were accordingly tagged “U. S. No. 1, Hathaway F.,. Granger, Wn.” A check for $678.30 given in payment for the load was made payable to Hathaway Farms. Waller’s brother-in-law owns Hathaway Farms, on which potatoes are grown and in which Waller has a financial interest. Waller cashed the check with the alleged consent of his brother-in-law and pocketed the proceeds.

On August 25, 1948, Waller through a brother contracted to purchase 4,100 cwt. of. surplus potatoes from the Corporation. A contract similar in detail to that which Williamson signed was executed.

Three independent investigations of Waller’s activities were made, and horticulture inspectors, a special agent of the Department of Agriculture, and an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified as to the findings. Waller admitted to the investigators and at the trial that he did all of the things outlined above.

We turn our attention to appellant’s claim that the potatoes with which we are here concerned were not the property of the Commodity Credit Corporation.

As this point is argued by appellant, we think it is a false issue. As between the Corporation and Williamson there was no misunderstanding. Williamson knew that he was receiving the potatoes at a mere nominal price in consonance with the government price support program and that they were not to be released to the market but were to be made useful by being fed to livestock. His interest in the potatoes was definitely so limited. He could not legally release them to Waller except under such limitation. Waller, by his surreptitious acts, justified the conclusion that he knew he had no title to the potatoes and had no right to them except as a drayman to haul them at Williamson’s [175]*175direction and permission as to their disposal and use. Notwithstanding such knowledge he disregarded both the direction and the permission given him and sold them as his own potatoes into the market.

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Bluebook (online)
177 F.2d 171, 1949 U.S. App. LEXIS 3155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waller-v-united-states-ca9-1949.