Corrado v. United States, 12349.
| Decision Date | 16 December 1955 |
| Docket Number | No. 12349.,12349. |
| Citation | 227 F.2d 780 |
| Parties | Peter CORRADO, a/k/a Pietro Corrado, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Harry Kobel, Detroit, Mich., Jack Wasserman, Washington, D. C. (I. A. Capizzi, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for appellant.
Dwight W. Hamborsky, U. S. Atty., Detroit, Mich. (Fred W. Kaess, Joseph Sureck, U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for appellee.
Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, and MARTIN and McALLISTER, Circuit Judges.
Appellant became a naturalized citizen of the United States by an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, entered on August 18, 1931. This is an appeal from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, revoking the order entered in the Eastern District of New York and canceling the certificate of naturalization issued pursuant to it. Appellant's citizenship was canceled because of fraud and illegality in its procurement.
Appellant, an Italian, came to the United States in 1921 and soon thereafter became a resident of Detroit, Michigan. On December 29, 1927, at Detroit, he declared his intention to become an American citizen. In June of 1929, he moved to Brooklyn, New York; and, on or about May 18, 1931, he applied for citizenship by petition to the United States District Court at Brooklyn, New York. On the printed application furnished him were numerous questions. This application shows that, after the question numbered 29: "Have you ever been arrested or charged with violation of any law of the United States or State or any city ordinance or traffic regulation?" was written the word "no". The application was signed by appellant above a printed certification that the statements in it were true to the best of the knowledge and belief of the applicant. The answers in writing to the questions asked in the application were not in the handwriting of appellant, but the application was signed by him.
The answer to the quoted question was false, for it was shown at the trial that, from June 25, 1923, to August 18, 1931 (the date of his naturalization), appellant had been arrested at least fifteen times and had been convicted of two misdemeanors: disturbing the peace in 1923; and frequenting a gambling place in August of 1927.
Very soon after his naturalization, Corrado returned and became a permanent resident of Detroit. Pursuant to his right under Michigan law, he formally requested the Superintendent of Police in Detroit to expunge from his record the list of his arrests, with the exception of the two misdemeanors upon which he was convicted, inasmuch as he had not been convicted on any other charge for which he had been arrested. The attorney for appellant submitted to the Police Superintendent a record of nine arrests which, upon application, were expunged. These arrests included one for murder, which was discharged; another, two years later, for murder, which was nolle prossed; other arrests were upon charges of felonious assault; armed robbery; concealed weapons (two arrests); violation of the Dyer Act, 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 2311-2313; violation of United States Immigration laws; and he had also been arrested as a fugitive from justice.
The trial judge listed six additional arrests, which had not been expunged. These arrests were established by the Government, by evidence introduced at the trial: one for murder; four for armed robbery; and one "on investigation." The United States District Court rejected the Government's offer to prove other arrests subsequent to the date of appellant's naturalization, and denied the admission of any evidence concerning his alleged improper actions after naturalization, with two exceptions. Evidence was admitted to the effect that, while his application for citizenship was pending in Brooklyn and before it was granted, an indictment had been returned against him in Detroit wherein he was charged with the same murder for which he had been arrested on February 19, 1929, before he left Detroit to live in New York. The Government was also permitted to show that, on October 10, 1931, appellant was charged with being a fugitive from justice.
In relation to his false answer to the question as to whether he had ever been arrested, Corrado made the excuse — which was not accepted by the trial judge — that the person who filled out his application in a store office opposite the Federal Building in Brooklyn had informed him that, because he had been convicted only for misdemeanors and his other arrests had not resulted in convictions, it was proper that he should answer "no" to the question of whether or not he had ever been arrested.
The trial judge, in his opinion holding that appellant was guilty of fraud in the procurement of his citizenship, stated that he did not believe the testimony of appellant for numerous reasons, namely: his demeanor and evasion on the witness stand; his convenient memory; his obvious intelligence instead of feigned ignorance; his shifting of residence from Detroit to New York around the time of his indictment for murder at Detroit; and his making of application for citizenship in New York, evidently because of his long police record in Detroit.
We have in mind the fact that, at the time of appellant's examination in New York, the preliminary examiner had noted upon the back of the application that it was being referred to Detroit for the taking of depositions with respect to appellant during the years from March 1, 1926, to June 14, 1929, a period of more than three years, during which he had resided in Detroit immediately before going to Brooklyn, New York, at which place he had resided for a year before filing his application for citizenship. While it appears that depositions were later taken in Detroit for that period, there is no evidence in the case as to what these depositions contained.
The preliminary examiner who had questioned appellant concerning the answers in his application for citizenship testified at the trial. The purport of his testimony was that his check marks on the application indicated that Corrado had answered the questions as he desired to answer them. The examiner pointed out that the letters "NCR" which he had placed on the back of the application meant "no criminal record"; and that the letters "RE" meant "reads English." The trial judge indicated strongly that he believed the testimony of the preliminary examiner. The opinion of the trial judge on the credibility of witnesses is, of course, not reviewable on appeal.
The brunt of appellant's complaints on this appeal is that, unless the Government could show that he would have been...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
United States v. Fedorenko
...Genovese v. U. S., 352 U.S. 952, 77 S.Ct. 327, 1 L.Ed.2d 244 (1956); U. S. v. Anastasio, 226 F.2d 912 (3rd Cir. 1955); Corrado v. U. S., 227 F.2d 780 (6th Cir. 1955); U. S. v. Oddo, 314 F.2d 115 (2d Cir. 35 Gutierrez-Sosa v. Del Guercio, 247 F.2d 266 (9th Cir. 1957); Petition for Naturaliza......
-
United States v. Walus
...v. United States, supra; United States v. DeLucia, supra; United States v. Montalbano, 236 F.2d 757 (3rd Cir. 1956); Corrado v. United States, 227 F.2d 780 (6th Cir. 1955); United States v. Accardo, 208 F.2d 632 (3rd Cir. 1953); cert. denied, 347 U.S. 952, 74 S.Ct. 677, 98 L.Ed. 1098 (1954)......
-
United States v. Galato
...as to the period embraced in determining moral character. See Petition of Ferro, supra, 141 F.Supp. 404; Corrado v. United States, 6 Cir., 1955, 227 F.2d 780, at page 784; Stevens v. United States, 7 Cir., 1951, 190 F.2d 880, 881; United States v. Etheridge, D.C.D.Ore. 1930, 41 F.2d 762. No......
-
United States v. Bimba
...United States v. Montalbono, 236 F.2d 757 (3 Cir.), cert. denied, 352 U.S. 952, 77 S.Ct. 327, 1 L.Ed.2d 244 (1956); Corrado v. United States, 227 F.2d 780 (6 Cir., 1955), cert. denied, 351 U.S. 925, 76 S.Ct. 781, 100 L.Ed. 1455 (1956)." The court has no knowledge as to whether, upon the tri......