Harding v. United States

• Decision Date: 03 June 1950
• Docket Number: No. 6070.,6070.
• Citation: 182 F.2d 524
• Parties: HARDING v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

182 F.2d 524 (1950)

HARDING v. UNITED STATES.

No. 6070.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 12, 1950.

Decided June 3, 1950.

Edward P. Simpkins, Jr., and A. C. Epps, Richmond, Va., for appellant.

Robert N. Pollard, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., Richmond, Va. (George R. Humrickhouse, U. S. Atty., Richmond, Va., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, SOPER, Circuit Judge, and HAYES, District Judge.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a conviction and sentence in a criminal case in which, on waiver of jury trial, appellant and two other persons, one of whom was the brother-in-law of appellant, were convicted by the trial judge of operating an illicit distillery. The only question raised by the appeal is the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction. The distillery was being operated in a body of woods a considerable distance from where appellant lived and also quite a distance from the sawmill where he had been working on the day in question up until around 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Around 6:30 that afternoon, officers of the law found two men at the still and the defendant only ten or twelve steps distant approaching it through the woods. When the officers made their presence known, all three men ran but were later apprehended. A gallon and a half of whiskey had been run through at the time in an operation evidently conducted by the other two men who were at the still, one of whom was the brother-in-law of appellant, and, while there is nothing to show exactly what appellant's connection with the operation was, it is not necessary that this be shown with precision. Defendant offered no explanation of his presence so near the still while it was being operated in violation of law or of his conduct in running away. When these circumstances are viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as they must be on the question of the sufficiency of the evidence, we cannot say that they are not sufficient to support the finding of guilt. It is not a question of what presumptions the law will draw from presence of an accused at an illegal distillery, but of what inferences reasonable men would draw from the circumstances, in view of the fact that no explanation is offered. Presence so near the illicit operation and flight when officers of the law made their appearance lead reasonably to the conclusion that those who were present and fled must have had some guilty connection with what was going on. We cannot say that the judge was not justified in taking the view which other reasonable men would take of the circumstances. Preoccupation with legal rules must not be allowed to obscure the dictates of common sense.

Affirmed.

HAYES, District Judge (dissenting).

I am unable to agree that it is not necessary to show what appellant's connection with the distillery was nor with the proposition that the failure of defendant to offer an explanation of his presence so near the still while it was being operated in violation of law or of his conduct in running away are sufficient to sustain a conviction.

The principle announced in Hicks v. U. S., 150 U.S. 442, 450, 14 S.Ct. 144, 37 L.Ed. 1137, is peculiarly applicable here. Hicks was at the scene where Rowe shot and killed Colvard and immediately before the shot was fired, Hicks told Colvard to take off his hat and die like a man. Both Rowe and Hicks fled from the scene. It is true that Hicks testified that he was trying to make peace between the two. The trial judge instructed the jury that if Hicks was present for the purpose of aiding or abetting Rowe, he would be guilty although he did not render aid. The court held the instruction erroneous for the reason that there were no facts shown in the evidence of any previous conspiracy or...