Beddow v. United States, 9850.

• Decision Date: 25 May 1934
• Docket Number: No. 9850.,9850.
• Parties: BEDDOW v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

70 F.2d 674 (1934)

BEDDOW v. UNITED STATES.

No. 9850.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

April 17, 1934.

Rehearing Denied May 25, 1934.

Carlos W. Goltz, of Sioux City, Iowa, for appellant.

Harry M. Reed, U. S. Atty., of Waterloo, Iowa, and D. C. Browning, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Sioux City, Iowa, for the United States.

Before STONE and WOODROUGH, Circuit Judges, and OTIS, District Judge.

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal by Frank R. Beddow from judgment convicting him on three counts of conspiracy with Dale C. Koon and Frank A. Heldridge to forge and utter indorsements upon certain Liberty bonds of the United States in violation of section 73, title 18 USCA.

The indictment contained five counts at the time of submission to the jury. The first three counts charged the defendants with conspiracy to forge the name "John Donovan" in the transfers on the backs of three separate genuine registered Liberty bonds of the United States for the purpose of obtaining, or enabling other persons to obtain, money from the United States, its officers or agents. The fourth count charged the defendants with conspiracy to utter and publish as true the said transfers on the bonds described in count 1 to J. G. Sibert with intent to defraud the United States. The fifth count charged conspiracy to utter the bond described in count 3 to Davidson Bros. Company. The other counts were previously dismissed. Before trial Koon entered a plea of guilty to all five counts, and was sentenced. The others entered a plea of not guilty, and Heldridge was acquitted on four counts, and as to one the jury disagreed, and it was later dismissed. Beddow was convicted on all five counts and sentenced to maximum penalty on count 1, the charge of conspiracy to forge, on count 4, the charge of conspiracy to utter to J. G. Sibert, and, on count 5, conspiracy to utter to Davidson Bros. Company. Motion for a new trial was granted Beddow as to the second and third counts.

There was evidence tending to establish the material facts as follows: In an unexplained manner Beddow came into possession of certain Liberty bonds in the amount of $17,000 registered in the name of and belonging to John Donovan, which formed part of the loot taken in the robbery of the Gorham State Bank of Gorham, Kan., on October 8, 1931. The bonds at that time bore no indorsements. Later in the same month, Beddow, who was engaged in trading California land, went to Sioux City, Iowa, where he endeavored to procure a loan on the security of the bonds offered as collateral. He sought out Koon, and asked him if he knew where he might obtain such a loan, telling him that he had acquired the bonds in a land deal. Koon suggested that Heldridge, an employee of the Sioux National Bank, might know where the loan could be obtained. Heldridge approached Sibert, a creditor of Beddow's, and through him a loan for $7,000 was finally negotiated; the understanding being that the bonds were to serve as collateral. The day after these negotiations took place, about November 4, 1931, Beddow went to Koon's house, produced the bonds, and told Koon he had a power of attorney to handle the bonds as he saw fit. Beddow told Koon the bonds must be indorsed by an official of the Central Land Company or the Pacific Investment Company. Koon was an officer of one of these companies. Koon then indorsed the name of John Donovan on all the bonds ($17,000 worth). The defendants then went before one Lathrop, a notary public, who advised them that he could not take acknowledgment, but upon their assurances did witness the forged signatures of John Donovan on the bonds. The bonds to the amount of $12,000 were then delivered to Sibert to secure notes signed by Beddow, Koon, and one Keefe for the loan of $7,000. Out of this Koon and Heldridge each received $250 for their services from Beddow.

In December, 1931, Beddow again came to Sioux City seeking an additional loan, and called on Koon. Koon drove him to Sibert's office, where Beddow requested a loan of $2,000. Sibert refused because he had discovered that the bonds previously taken were improperly indorsed. Koon then drove Beddow to Davidson Bros. Company, to whom Beddow was indebted, and, after some consideration, received a loan of $2,250, indorsing to him a note for $5,000 bearing the forged indorsement of John Donovan. This deal was consummated in the evening; the understanding being that Heldridge would, the following morning, make delivery of the bonds alleged to be in his hands as escrow holder, and thereby secure the $5,000 note to Davidson. Such delivery was made by Heldridge the next morning, and out of this deal Koon received $125 and Heldridge $125 from Beddow. Upon receiving the bonds, Davidson discovered that they were improperly indorsed, and thereafter Beddow, who had gone to California, repeatedly assured Davidson he would fix everything up. Beddow returned to Sioux City early in 1932 and delivered to Davidson deeds to certain lands in lieu of the bonds. In February or March, 1932, Beddow executed deeds for certain lands to Sibert in lieu of the bonds which Sibert held. The bonds, however, were turned over to agents of the Department of Justice, and prosecution followed.

The appellant summarizes his assignments of error in three contentions. The first is that the conviction should be reversed, with directions to dismiss the indictment because "there could have been no such offense committed under the indictment, or under the facts in violation of the laws of the United States"; the second is that the conviction under count 4 should be reversed because "the facts thereunder are essentially part of the alleged crime set forth in count one"; the third is that the conviction under count 5 should be reversed because there was no evidence of conspiracy as to the offense covered thereby.

The argument in support of the contention that the indictment is bad as to all counts involved here is that the bonds in question were registered bonds; that the requirements of the Treasury Department as to transfer of such bonds was that the transfer or indorsement must be executed before certain designated officials and a notary public "is not authorized to witness assignments"; that the forged transfer was witnessed only by a notary public; that an indorsement so witnessed could not be recognized by the Treasury Department, and therefore no money could be obtained from the United States thereunder. In essence, this argument and contention is that the conspiracy as alleged in the indictment and shown by the evidence could never have...