Colt v. United States, 11585
| Decision Date | 10 April 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 11585,11586.,11585 |
| Citation | 160 F.2d 650 |
| Parties | COLT v. UNITED STATES (two cases). |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Bart A. Riley and A. C. Dressler, both of Miami, Fla., for appellant.
Herbert S. Phillips, U. S. Atty., of Tampa, Fla., and Fred Botts, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Miami, Fla., for appellee.
Before SIBLEY, WALLER, and LEE, Circuit Judges.
Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to secure bribes to be paid to him as a member of the Price Panel of the Rationing Board of Dade County, Florida, and also of the substantive offense of accepting bribes for arranging favorable ceiling price for payees of the bribes.
In the conspiracy case no motion for a directed verdict was made in the lower Court, and, therefore, the sufficiency of the evidence is not here reviewable under the well-established rule which Defendant's present counsel candidly recognizes. He insists, however, that the conviction of the conspiracy was illegal, chiefly because of the receipt of the testimony of Markowitz, a coconspirator, without antecedent proof by the Government of the existence of a conspiracy.
His argument fails to recognize the distinction between the admission in evidence of a confession by the accused, or the receipt of an extra-judicial admission by a coconspirator that is not susceptible of being considered as having been made in furtherance of the conspiracy, before receipt by the Court of corroborative evidence of the corpus delicti, and the situation in this case where the Court admitted the direct testimony of the coconspirator as a witness. This is not a case where a confession by the accused or by an accomplice was employed to prove the existence of the conspiracy, and the authorities cited by Appellant are not applicable.
It is true that a confession of membership in a conspiracy made by the accused or by a coconspirator requires, as to the former, some evidence to corroborate the accused's confession,1 and, as to the latter, evidence upon which the jury might conclude that the admission, insofar as it might affect the accused, was in furtherance of the conspiracy.2 The Court below was not called upon to accept or reject a confession by Colt or Markowitz, but the testimony of the latter, in open Court, under oath, whereat the Defendant had the right of cross-examination. We do not agree that it is the law that the testimony of a coconspirator cannot be received in evidence until after corroborative evidence of...
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United States v. Perez
...F.2d 589; Knight v. United States, 5 Cir., 1954, 213 F.2d 699, 700; Moore v. United States, 5 Cir., 1947, 161 F.2d 932; Colt v. United States, 5 Cir., 1947, 160 F.2d 650; Jordon v. United States, 5 Cir., 1941, 120 F.2d 8 There is a substantial amount of evidence supporting the conviction of......
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State v. Chang
...have been given, and its refusal was prejudicial.' See also Slater v. State, 224 Ind. 627, 70 N.E.2d 425, 429-430; Colt v. United States, 5 Cir., 160 F.2d 650, 651; People v. Griffin, 98 Cal.App.2d 1, 219 P.2d 519; 11 Am.Jur., Conspiracy, § 43, p. Specifications of error No. 24 and No. 25 p......
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United States v. Jones, 73-2192
...defendant. Consequently, the sufficiency of the evidence on which the convictions were based is not reviewable here. Colt v. United States, 5 Cir., 160 F.2d 650; Jordan v. United States, 5 Cir., 120 F.2d 65. However, to avoid a manifest miscarriage of justice, this court does have the power......
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Lott v. United States
...329 U.S. 211, 216-217, 67 S.Ct. 224, 91 L.Ed. 196; Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604, 73 S.Ct. 481, 97 L. Ed. 593; Colt v. United States, 5 Cir., 160 F.2d 650. ...