Davis v. United States

• Decision Date: 12 November 1955
• Docket Number: No. 5166.,5166.
• Citation: 227 F.2d 568
• Parties: Robert Edward DAVIS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

227 F.2d 568 (1955)

Robert Edward DAVIS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 5166.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

November 12, 1955.

Sam W. Moore and David Tant, Oklahoma City, Okl., on the brief, for appellant.

H. Dale Cook, Asst. U. S. Atty., Oklahoma City, Okl. (Paul W. Cress, U. S. Atty., Oklahoma City, Okl., was with him on the brief), for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, HUXMAN, Circuit Judge, and SAVAGE, District Judge.

SAVAGE, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The appellant was found guilty by a jury of the illegal transfer of bulk marihuana and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five years.

The only assigned error urged by the appellant is that the court made unreasonable comments on the evidence in his charge to the jury. The charge, in pertinent part, follows:

"* * * I feel also it is my duty to state to you that a lot of people don't realize what a heinous crime it is to fool with drugs and defendant might not realize it when he did, but it is a crime. I think you should consider the fact within your knowledge of the case or the difficulty of proving a transaction of the crime charged. I feel obligated to say to you that under this evidence, I am of the opinion, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant did commit the act as charged, and I say that so that in the event you come to the same conclusion, you will know that I am of the same opinion, and at the time I say it, I don't take away from you at all your sole right as the judges of the facts, and if you don't agree with me it is your duty to follow your own conscience, and if you did, I am inclined to believe it would put a reasonable doubt in my mind, but I feel from my experience I have a duty in this kind of a case to so express an opinion and I have done it, and at the same time I caution you to use your own judgment and not put any greater weight on it than it should have. If you have a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of this defendant, it would be your duty to acquit him."

It is well recognized that a trial judge in an United States District Court may comment on the evidence and express an opinion thereon in his charge to the jury. Indeed, in many cases, it is his clear duty to do so. Minner v. United States, 10 Cir., 57 F.2d 506. However, it was made quite clear in the Minner case that, in analyzing and commenting on the evidence, the judge exercises discretion subject to limitations inherent in the very nature of the judicial office. It was there said, at page 513: "* * * He should state the evidence fairly and accurately, both that which is favorable and that which is unfavorable to the accused. His statements should not be argumentative, but impartial, dispassionate, and judicial; and they should be so carefully guarded that the jurors are left free to exercise their independent judgment upon the facts."

But it can hardly be said that the trial court commented on the evidence in the case at bar. There was obviously no attempt made to summarize it. Rather the court was content to make a statement laying emphasis upon the heinousness of the offense charged and to express an opinion that the evidence convinced him of the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.

The circumstances under which a judge may, with propriety, inform the jury that he is of the opinion that a defendant on trial is guilty are stated by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Murdock, 290 U.S. 389, 394, 54...