United States v. Richards, 14709

• Decision Date: 18 May 1971
• Docket Number: 14710.,No. 14709,14709
• Citation: 442 F.2d 922
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Franklin Dwight RICHARDS, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Claude Dean AKERS, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

442 F.2d 922 (1971)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Franklin Dwight RICHARDS, Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Claude Dean AKERS, Appellant.

Nos. 14709, 14710.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 8, 1971.

Decided May 18, 1971.

Charles T. Leighton (Court-appointed counsel), Falls Church, Va., for appellants.

David H. Hopkins, Asst. U. S. Atty., (Brian P. Gettings, U. S. Atty., on the brief) for appellee.

Before BOREMAN, WINTER and CRAVEN, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Franklin Dwight Richards and Claude Dean Akers were convicted in separate trials on charges of kidnapping and rape. We affirm.

On September 7, 1969, a white male, displaying a revolver, forced one Miss X¹ into a car driven by a Negro male in Washington, D. C. While in the car she was raped by the white male who was subsequently identified as the defendant Akers. They then drove to a wooded area along the George Washington Parkway in Virginia on lands owned by, and within the territorial jurisdiction of, the United States where Miss X was raped by the Negro who was subsequently identified as the defendant Richards. The men then returned the victim to the spot where they had picked her up and there released her.

On September 12, 1969, Miss Y and Miss Z, while waiting for a bus in Washington, D. C., accepted a proffered ride in a car driven by a Negro male; a white male was a passenger in the front seat. They had driven only a short distance when the white male turned around and held the girls at gunpoint. The car was driven to the same wooded area along the George Washington Parkway where Miss X had been raped five days earlier. After striking Miss Y with the pistol, the white male raped her. Subsequently the girls were driven back to Washington and released.

On September 22, 1969, Miss X recognized her Negro attacker who was driving an automobile other than the one in which she had been abducted. The license number was given to the police and later that evening the vehicle was stopped and the Negro driver, Richards, was arrested. Defendant Akers was apparently a passenger in the car at that time but he escaped from the police.

On September 30, 1969, Richards was viewed by Miss X in a lineup but she was unable to identify him. She did, however, identify a car registered in his name as the car used in her kidnapping. On November 4, 1969, following his apprehension, defendant Akers was identified in a lineup by both Miss Y and Miss Z.

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