Casone v. State
| Citation | 246 S.W.2d 22,29 Beeler 303,193 Tenn. 303 |
| Parties | CASONE v. STATE. 29 Beeler 303, 193 Tenn. 303, 246 S.W.2d 22 |
| Decision Date | 09 February 1952 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Grover N. McCormick, Memphis, for plaintiff in error.
Knox Bigham, Asst. Atty. Gen., for State.
Casone was convicted of the bribery of a professional boxer with his punishment fixed at confinement in the Shelby County Penal Farm for a period of 11 months and 29 days. This conviction was for the violation of Chapter 143 of the Public Acts of 1949, carried in the supplement to the Code as Section 11102.2.
From a rather large record for such cases, around five hundred pages of testimony, we gather the facts as follows: A codefendant of the plaintiff in error arranged for certain professional boxing matches to be conducted in Memphis on the night of November 21, 1950. The principals in these fights were one Scott against one Buchanan and one Burke against one Barrom. Scott arrived in Memphis on November 19, and was assigned to room No. 409 at the Gayoso Hotel. On November 20, Scott went with the promoter of the fights to another suite of rooms on the same floor and there met the plaintiff in error. On this occasion the three parties discussed a car lot that the plaintiff in error was to put in, evidently in Memphis. Scott the fighter, testified that he gathered the impression that he might possibly work in this car lot. The indictment charges the plaintiff in error with the bribery of Scott. During this conversation there was no discussion of the outcome of the fight. Scott the fighter testified that later that day, at about 7:00 o'clock in the evening of November 20, he and the promoter went from his room to the room of the plaintiff in error and met the plaintiff in error there. Scott says that on this occasion Burke, Buchanan, Barrom, the promoter and the plaintiff in error were all present. In the course of the conversation among these people it was suggested by someone that if it was known how the fight would come out a lot of money could be made. To this suggestion Scott the fighter replied that he didn't think enough money could be made to cause a thing like that. The plaintiff in error stated, according to Scott, that five thousand dollars or so could be called. It was suggested that the odds would be two or three to one in Scott's favor, and that Burke, another fighter, would be favored over Barrom. Arrangements has been made for the promoter to referee the fights. This promoter as aforesaid was present in this room according to Scott and other testimony which will be later referred to, and while these parties were in this room the plan of throwing the fight was arranged and it was practiced for Scott and Buchanan to square it off and then the promoter was to step in between them and as he did so Scott was to step back and at this time the other fighter was to throw a punch at Scott and Scott was to go down. All of this was to occur in the third round. This procedure was rehearsed there in the hotel room. Scott further testified that it was arranged between him, the plaintiff in error and the promoter for him, Scott, to receive his share of the gate receipts plus one-third of the bets put down. The plaintiff in error was to make the bets. Scott testified that the fight did end in the third round as planned, but that he received a broken vertebra in his neck, which was not planned.
Scott's opponent in the fight, Buchanan, testified substantially in accord with that related above which was given by Scott, except that Buchanan did not remember whether the plaintiff in error was present in the room when the arrangements were made that the fight be thrown. This witness testified that he was promised no additional money for his part in the fraud, but that the promoter told him that they could put on a good show for spectators and thereby enhance future gate receipts. It was also shown that he did not have the experience and reputation of Scott and that by knocking Scott out his reputation would be enhanced.
A third fighter, Burke, corroborated Scott as to the matters occurring in the plaintiff in error's room on the night of November 20, and stated very positively that the plaintiff in error was present when the arrangements were made and when the fight participants rehearsed the fight to be put on. He also stated that it was arranged for him to lose to Barrom in the third round of their fight, and that he did lose in the third round according to the prearranged plan. For his participation in the fights Burke was to get a certain percentage of the bets, this percentage being guaranteed by the promoter to be at least $700. (Burke testifying that there was a $700 mortgage on his car which they told him at the time could be lifted for what he would make out of his participation in the thrown fight). Burke testified that the plaintiff in error was to make the bets and that the plaintiff in error said that he would have at least $15,000 on him. After the fights were over the plaintiff in error in the same room at the Gayoso Hotel according to Burke, paid Burke $175. He stated that the plaintiff in error said that the reason the amount was so small was that he could not get many bets.
One witness testified that he attended the fight and bet $300 with the plaintiff in error on Scott to win. No odds were given in this wager. This witness also saw the plaintiff in error at the ringside betting with another man. This witness testified that Scott and Buchanan in their fight were not trying to fight. He stated that Scott went down three times in the third round. The first time he went down he had received only a light blow. The second and third times that Scott went down he hadn't even been hit by Buchanan. This witness further testified that according to the records Scott should have been the best fighter.
Another witness who attended the fight bet $250 to $150 with the plaintiff in error that Burke would win over Barrom. This witness testified that he sought out the plaintiff in error and picked his own man to bet on. Four other witnesses all of whom had been rather intimately associated with boxing over a period of years, from five to thirty-five years, testified that they witnessed the boxing matches on this night and that in their opinion neither the Scott-Buchanan fight nor the Burke-Barrom fight was a legitimate contest. One of these witnesses had bet $10 with the plaintiff in error on Scott to win.
The Tennessee Athletic Commission conducted an investigation of these fights and gave each of the four boxers an opportunity to be present and testify. Scott declined to attend but did write a letter to the Chairman of the Commission denying that his fight was fixed. Buchanan testified before the Commission and denied that the fight was fixed. On this trial Scott repudiated the statement in his letter to the Commission, and Buchanan testified that his testimony before the Commission was not true. The investigation was started by the Commission at the suggestion of the Inspector of Boxing for the State and others who suspected that the fights were not on the up and up.
The plaintiff in error testified in his own behalf and denied that he was guilty of bribery. He claimed that it was merely fortuitous that his room at the Hotel was so near that of Scott, stating that he took a suite in the Hotel that had been reserved for a friend named Richardson. He denied that any of the events described by the three boxers occurred in his room on the night of November 20. He relied upon an alibi to the effect that on the night of November 20, and at the time of the alleged bribery arrangements, he was in Truman, Arkansas, visiting Earl Moon and his family. He stated that Moon had been in Memphis two days before the trial but that his mother had become sick and that Moon had accordingly and to go to Cleveland, Ohio. The plaintiff in error admitted being present at the fights and making bets totaling about $800, but denied any knowledge of a fix. He further denied that he paid McRae $175 in his room after the fight. He further showed that he was the owner of some considerable property in Memphis and maintained an apartment where he lived in that City. He admitted on cross-examination that he had owned an interest in some restaurants and betting houses.
The promoter and referee of the fight who was also indicted along with the plaintiff in error, took the stand on his behalf and denied that he was in the plaintiff in error's room on the night of November 20, when the fights were allegedly fixed. He denied that he participated in or knew anything about any bribery, that he saw the plaintiff in error on the night of November 20, and that he had any knowledge that the boxing matches were anything but legitimate. This codefendant of the plaintiff in error was convicted and given 30 days which according to statements made at the bar had been served by him.
In rebuttal the State introduced one of its Assistant District Attorney Generals as a witness. On direct examination this witness testified that he went to Truman, Arkansas, after he heard the plaintiff in error's testimony to the effect that he was in Truman on the night of November 20. This witness said that he saw Earl Moon in Truman and invited the latter to return to Memphis with him but that Moon did not come. This testimony of the Assistant District Attorney General was not objected to. On cross examination and in response to questions propounded by counsel for the plaintiff in error this witness testified that Moon stated that he had no recollection of the plaintiff in error being at his home on the night of November 20; that none of his family was ill and none of his or his wife's relatives lived in Cleveland, Ohio; and that the plaintiff in error had had several conversations with him trying to get him to come to Memphis and provide an alibi.
The first assignment is that the evidence preponderates against the...
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