Haddad v. United States

• Decision Date: 25 October 1965
• Docket Number: No. 19890.,19890.
• Citation: 349 F.2d 511
• Parties: Samuel Shibli HADDAD, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

349 F.2d 511 (1965)

Samuel Shibli HADDAD, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 19890.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

August 3, 1965.

Certiorari Denied October 25, 1965.

Jerry B. Riseley, Studio City, Cal., for appellant.

Manuel L. Real, U. S. Atty., John K. Van de Kamp, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Crim. Div., J. Brin Schulman, Asst. U. S. Atty., Asst. Chief, Crim. Div., Benj. S. Farber, Asst. U. S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.

Before JERTBERG, Circuit Judge, MADDEN, Judge, Court of Claims, and DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge.

Certiorari Denied October 25, 1965. See 86 S.Ct. 193.

DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

Haddad was convicted by a jury under an indictment, the material part of which reads as follows:

"The Grand Jury charges:

18 U.S.C. § 1001

On or about May 29, 1963, in Los Angeles County, within the Central Division of the Southern District of California, defendant SAMUEL SHIBLI HADDAD, in a matter within the jurisdiction of, and material to the Department of State, a department and agency of the United States knowingly and wilfully prepared and caused to be prepared a letter addressed to the American Consul, at Amman, Jordan, which letter related to one Mosa D. Abu Cobe, an alien, which letter was purportedly signed by A. M. Jeffress, M. D., Chief of Orthopedic Division, California Permanente Medical Group, which letter was false, fictitious and fraudulent as the defendant then and there well knew, in that the letter was a forged document."

We state the evidence most favorable to the government's contentions: Haddad is a citizen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and has been in this country for several years. He claims to have some kind of a medical degree from the Syrian University of Damascus, but is not licensed to practice medicine in California. Nevertheless, he called himself "Doctor." In 1963 he was employed in the hospital operated by the Southern California Permanente Medical Group as a cast room technician, an orderly. He became acquainted with a Mrs. Hilda Van Bergen and learned from her that she had a brother in Jordan, one Mosa Cobe, who had some medical problem with his leg and wished to come to this country for treatment. Haddad thereupon composed and typed upon the stationery of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group a letter addressed to the American Consul at Amman, Jordan, on which he forged the signature of the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery, a Dr. Jeffress. In this letter he makes it appear that Dr. Jeffress had examined certain medical reports about Cobe, that the doctor believed that Cobe was in danger of losing his leg, that he considered facilities for treatment in Jordan and neighboring countries to be inadequate, that the Southern California Permanente Medical Group would undertake all of Cobe's medical, hospital, and medicinal expenses, and that he hoped that the Consul would issue a visa to permit Mr. Cobe to enter the United States. This letter was dated May 29, 1963. All of this was false. Haddad never discussed the matter with Dr. Jeffress, never showed him any medical reports about Cobe, and had no authority to write the letter, much less sign it.

Haddad placed the letter in an envelope addressed to the Consul and handed it to Mrs. Van Bergen. Apparently she was a little suspicious about it, but she accepted it upon his assurance that while he had typed the letter, Dr. Jeffress had himself signed it. She thereupon sent it to another brother of hers in Jordan, who presented it to the Consul. The Consul became suspicious and did not issue a visa on the basis of this letter.

Thereafter some question was raised about the letter in Haddad's proceeding seeking naturalization. He thereupon composed another letter, purportedly from Dr. Jeffress to himself, in which he had the doctor stating that he did authorize Haddad to send the May 29th letter to the Consul. This second letter was dated June 6, 1963 and a "Thermofax" copy of it was produced by Haddad at the trial. It has at the bottom a copy of a genuine signature of the doctor. However, the letter was typed by Haddad himself, and the signature upon it was obtained by cutting it from another document, joining it to the typed portion, and running the two pieces of paper through a "Thermofax" machine. In other words, this letter too was a fake.

Haddad also prevailed upon a young woman of 24, the fiancee of his brother, to sign a false affidavit prepared by him, in which she stated that she had overheard a telephone conversation between Haddad and Dr. Jeffress in which Dr. Jeffress stated that he had authorized Haddad to write and send the letter of May 29, 1963, but had not authorized him to state that the Southern California Permanente Medical Group would assume the expenses of Cobe's treatment. The young lady testified that the affidavit is false, and that there was no such conversation.

The foregoing evidence is obviously sufficient to sustain the conviction and Haddad does not claim that it is not. We consider his contentions, seriatim.

1. Haddad has caused to be brought up to this court as a part of the record on appeal certain proceedings in the United States District Court relating to his naturalization. These were not before the trial court in this case. They show that, when Haddad petitioned for naturalization, the Immigration and Naturalization Service recommended denial because of his failure to establish good moral character. One of the grounds for this recommendation was the forgery of the letter of May 29, 1963, although there were other grounds as well. The record further shows that the court disposed of the matter by accepting Haddad's request to withdraw his petition upon the condition that he would be ineligible to apply for naturalization again until the expiration of five years after May 29, 1963, the date of the forged letter. Haddad claims that this disposition of the matter constitutes punishment for the offense, so that his conviction in this case is double jeopardy.

There is nothing to the point, for two reasons. In the first place, the question was never raised at the trial. Formerly, double jeopardy was raised by the plea of autrefois acquit or autrefois convict. Such special pleas have been abolished by Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, but that rule also provides that any defense capable of determination without trial of the general issue may be raised before trial by motion, and that the failure to present it constitutes a waiver of it. The court, however, may grant relief for cause shown. Not only was there no such motion, but there was no request for relief. Levin v. United States, 9 Cir., 1925, 5 F.2d 598, 600, is authority for the proposition that failure to plead...