Forman v. United States
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
In this criminal conspiracy case, petitioner raises questions of double jeopardy. Petitioner and one Seijas, his former partner in the pinball business, were convicted
The facts are detailed in the original opinion of - the Court of Appeals, 259 F. 2d 128, and it is sufficient here merely to summarize them. In 1941 petitioner and Seijas, a lawyer, formed a partnership to engage in the operation of pinball machines in Kitsap County, Washington. Receipts, less expenses, from the individual machines, were to be divided equally between the partners
On rehearing,
I.
We believe that there was a misconstruction of the scope of the alleged conspiracy and its duration in both Grünewald and the present case. In Grünewald the indictment charged a conspiracy “to fix” criminal tax cases and to conceal the acts of the conspirators. That case was submitted to the jury on the theory that “the indictment alleges that the conspiracy comprehended within it a conspiracy to conceal the true facts from investigation . . . .” Did the conspiracy end when the “no prosecution” rulings were issued, the Court charged, “or was a part of the conspiracy a continuing agreement to conceal the acts done pursuant thereto?” The effect of the charge was that if there was such a continuing agreement, then the prosecution was timely. .It appeared to us that the case should have been submitted to the jury on
In petitioner’s case the indictment charged him and Seijas with conspiracy, extending from 1942 to 1953, to attempt to evade the income taxes of Seijas and his wife for the period 1942-1945. Unlike Grünewald, the indictment did not allege that one of the objects of the conspiracy was to conceal the acts of the conspirators. The indictment specifically alleged that the conspiracy extended from 1942 to 1953 and, of the 33 overt acts charged, some were committed as late as 1953, the year of the indictment. This language, it must be admitted, certainly lends strong support to the Government’s theory of the case. The petitioner says that the theory on which the case was submitted to the jury was that the conspiracy to attempt to evade the taxes “was consummated” when the income tax returns for 1945 were filed and that, unless the jury found “a subsidiary conspiracy” to conceal the conspiracy to attempt to evade the taxes, the “verdict would have to be not guilty.” That was the theory he requested, but the charge differs little from the Grünewald one. In fact it appears to have been patterned after the Grünewald charge. The correct theory, we believe, was indicated by the indictment, i. e., that the conspiracy was a continuing one extending from 1942 to 1953 and its principal object was to evade the taxes of Seijas and his wife for 1942-1945, inclusive, by concealing their “holdout” income. This object was not attained when the tax returns for 1945 concealing the “holdout” income were filed. As was said in Grünewald, this was but the first
Petitioner insists, however, that the fatal difference between the Grünewald charge and the one here is that here the “alternative theory” was not submitted to the j ury. Even if we agreed with .this point, we do not believe that it would be relevant to our conclusion. The indictment was based on one continuing conspiracy to evade Seijas’ tax. The evidence supported it and, if the petitioner had not injected the infected language into the charge, this clearly would have been the theory submitted to the jury. Its inclusion did make the charge ambiguous and the Court of Appeals, having power to direct “such further proceedings to be had as may be just under the circumstances,” believed a new trial “appropriate,” 28 U. S. C. § 2106, and so ordered. Petitioner concedes that this would have been appropriate if such action had been taken by the Court of Appeals upon original submission ; but he says that, once having ordered the entry of an acquittal judgment, it lost power to amend that direction on rehearing and order a new trial. This would subject him, he says, to double jeopardy. We think not.
It is elementary in our law that a person can be tried a second time for an offense when his prior conviction for that same offense has been set aside by his appeal. United States v. Ball, 163 U. S. 662, 672 (1896). See also Green v. United States, 355 U. S. 184, 189 (1957), which expressly affirmed the principle of the Ball case. Petitioner says that he does not come under that rule because he moved for a judgment of acquittal on the basis of a lack of evidence, and that his. right to acquittal “matured” at that time. A new trial, however, was one of petitioner’s remedies. As we said in Bryan v. United States, 338 U. S. 552, 560 (1950), where one seeks reversal of his conviction, “assigning a number of alleged errors on appeal, including denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal . . . ‘there is no double jeopardy upon a new trial.’ ” Even though petitioner be fight in his claim that he did not request a new trial with respect to the portion of the charge dealing with the statute of limitations, still his plea of double jeopardy must fail. Under 28 U. S. C. § 2106, the Court of Appeals has full power to go beyond the particular relief sought. See Ball and other cases, supra. Nor does Sapir v. United States, 348 U. S. 373 (1955), require a different conclusion, as petitioner claims. The Court of Appeals there, holding the evidence insufficient to convict, had first reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss the indictment, and later, on the Government’s motion, had remanded instead for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. This Court held that the original order directing the indictment to be dismissed was the correct one, and refused to pass on questions presented by the order directing a new trial.
While petitioner contends that here the action of the Court of Appeals on rehearing was based on new evidence,
We believe petitioner overlooks that, when he opened up the case by appealing from his conviction, he subjected himself to the power of the appellate court to direct such “appropriate” order as it. thought “just under the circumstances.” Its original direction was subject to revision on rehearing. The original opinion was entirely interlocutory and no mandate was ever issued thereon. It never became final and was subject to further action on rehearing. Department of Banking v. Pink, 317 U. S. 264 (1942). In Pink, we said that the petition on rehearing “operates to 'suspend the finality of the . . . court’s judgment, pending the court’s further determination whether the judgment should be modified so as to alter its adjudication of the rights of the parties.” 317 U. S., at 266. To hold otherwise would deprive the Government of the right to file, a petition for certiorari here in criminal cases decided favorably to the defendant in the Court of Appeals, for such a petition might be, attacked as a prohibited appeal by the Government on a motion for a new trial. It would be tantamount to a verdict of acquittal at the hands of the jury, not subject to review by motion for rehearing, appeal, or certiorari in this Court. We cannot subscribe to such a theory.
, „ 7 Affirmed.
Seijas pleaded guilty and testified for the Government.
“Sec. 145. Penalties. . . . (b) Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax, or Attempt to Defeat or Evade Tax. — Any person required under this chapter to collect, account for, and pay over any tax imposed by this chapter, who willfully fails to collect or truthfully account for and pay over such tax, and any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this chapter or the payment thereof, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.”
“Sec. 1001. STATEMENTS OR ENTRIES GENERALLY. Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the- United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses .any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
Although petitioner contends that the petition for rehearing was in -fact a motion for a new trial, this is not true. The purpose of a petition for rehearing is to point out error in the original judgment. Here the Government pointed out that the Court of Appeals applied the wrong theory (the Grünewald theory instead of the continuing conspiracy theory).
Petitioner also argues that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support a conviction based upon the “alternative theory.” He urges that Grünewald established that, regardless of the nature of the charge, there must be “direct evidence ... to show . .'. an express original agreement among the conspirators to continue to act in concert in order to cover up, for their own self-protection, traces of the crime after its commission.”' 353 U. S., at 404. (Emphasis supplied.). This statement, however, had reference to a subsidiary conspiracy to conceal, not to a continuing one'. In Grünewald we were not required to decide whether a conviction under a proper charge could be supported where the only evidence during the' period within the statute of limitations was independent acts of concealment, since more was present there. See 353 U. S., at 409, n. 23. Nor is that necessary here, since the Court of Appeals’ determination that
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I feel it necessary to add a few words to make clear the basis on which I join in the Court’s judgment.
1. As I read the record I believe the case is fairly to be viewed as having been submitted to the jury only on the subsidiary-conspiracy theory. For although there are passages in the trial court’s charge which can be said to have proceeded on a continuing-conspiracy theory, these passages, taking the charge as a whole, are, in my view, too ambiguous to justify our saying that the jury must have understood that it could also consider the case on that basis.
2. I do not think that because of its omission to object to the trial court’s failure to give a continuing-conspiracy charge, the Government was precluded, under Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, from raising that point on appeal. That Rule provides:
“No party may assign as error any portion of the charge or omission, therefrom unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection.”
In my view the Rule has no application here. Accepting, as I do, petitioner’s claim that the charge did not include a continuing-conspiracy theory, it erred in the Government’s favor. I cannot believe that Rule 30 requires the party favored by an erroneous charge to point out to the court whát the correct charge would be if its decision were to be reversed on appeal. Furthermore, since our opinion in the Grunewald case, 353 U. S. 391, was not yet available to the parties or the court, the charge undoubtedly appeared correct to both sides.' The Government was no more culpable for not challenging it than petitioner was for requesting it. Nor does the Government’s request for a new trial in the Court of Appeals
3. I think the record sustains petitioner’s contention that he did not, either in the trial court or in the Court of Appeals, request a new trial with respect to the portion of the charge dealing with the statute of limitations.
4. Since the Court of Appeals held only that the case might have been tried on a continuing-conspiracy theory, I express no opinion on the permissible duration of a conspiracy to violate § 145 (b) or on the sufficiency of the evidence adduced to prove its continuation. Those questions should be resolved in further proceedings.
It appears that while petitioner’s post-trial memorandum assigned the sufficiency of the evidence in routine fashion as one of the grounds for a new trial, he relied in the trial court entirely on the ground of newly discovered evidence, and in the Court óf Appeals on that ground plus erroneous admission of evidence and certain errors in the charge not here relevant.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I join the Court’s opinion but desire to add a word. Mr. Justice Clark’s clear, full, and accurate statement of the facts demonstrates errors by nearly everyone having to do with the .case in the lower courts except the Government; yet it lost the case on appeal.
After the Court of Appeals had written its original opinion reversing, the Government, in an effort to salvage the case, timely moved for a rehearing, saying, in effect: “Perhaps, we were in error in not objecting to the charge requested by the accused, and given by the court to the jury, on ‘subsidiary conspiracy/ but we should at least have an opportunity to retry the case.” The Court of Appeals then agreed with the Government's forced contention, and accordingly modified its opinion and remanded the case for a new trial. Petitioner complains
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