Bell v. United States

• Decision Date: 06 September 1967
• Docket Number: No. 21467.,21467.
• Citation: 382 F.2d 985
• Parties: William Lander BELL, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

382 F.2d 985 (1967)

William Lander BELL, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 21467.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

September 6, 1967.

John C. Schaller, San Francisco, Cal., for appellant.

Joseph L. Ward, U. S. Atty., Robert S. Linnell, Michael DeFeo, Asst. U. S. Attys., Las Vegas, Nev., for appellee.

Before JOHNSEN,^* BARNES, and ELY, Circuit Judges.

ELY, Circuit Judge:

Appellant was charged by indictment with having unlawfully transported a stolen motor vehicle in interstate commerce. 18 U.S.C. § 2312. He appeals after having been convicted in a jury trial and committed under the provisions of the Federal Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 5005-5026. Insofar as they are material to the issues presented here, the facts are as follows:

The Police Department of Las Vegas, Nevada, had been informed that a fugitive suspected of robbery in California would be driving a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette automobile, yellow in color and bearing California license plates. The particular model of the vehicle was identified as a "Stingray." Thereafter, at 2:10 o'clock in the early morning of September 17, 1966, at a street intersection in Las Vegas, Nevada, a vehicle of the above description was observed by Officer Goetzke of the Las Vegas Police Department. The officer stopped the vehicle and, after questioning appellant, took him into custody and caused the automobile to be impounded. The appellant remained in the custody of the Las Vegas police for about two and one-half days and was then interviewed by Agent Howerton of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Howerton, who had previously identified the automobile in which appellant was found as a vehicle which had been stolen in Pensacola, Florida, made inquiry of appellant as to whether or not he was able to read. Receiving an affirmative answer, he presented appellant with a document containing all of the warnings and advice required under Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). After the appellant had signed the document, he told Agent Howerton that his, appellant's, mother had purchased the automobile for him and that he had driven it from Pensacola to Las Vegas. Over appellant's objection, Agent Howerton testified to this statement during the trial.

Officer Goetzke appeared as a witness for the prosecution, and after he testified that he had stopped the automobile and observed the appellant therein, defense counsel addressed a request to the district judge, as follows: "If the Court please. May I inquire on voir dire with respect to the stopping of the vehicle before we leave the subject?" The judge replied, "It is not an appropriate inquiry for voir dire. That is cross-examination." It is strenuously urged that this ruling was prejudicially erroneous. It is said in appellant's brief, "Not wanting to implant the testimony in the jury's mind, and not having the opportunity to examine Officer Goetzke outside the hearing of the jury as he desired, counsel for defendant did not go into cross-examination." It is contended that the district judge, upon being presented with the quoted request, should have been aware that appellant desired to elicit facts which would justify objection on constitutional grounds, should have excused the jury so that defense counsel might examine the officer in the jury's absence, and should have treated the request as a motion to suppress evidence. We cannot accept these farfetched views. If trial counsel desired to do what it is now represented that he wished to do, he should have made the judge aware of his intention. He did not request that the jury be excused, and he did not inform the judge of any reason why he wished to "inquire on voir dire." Classically, the purpose of ...