Harris v. United States

Decision Date15 March 1968
Docket NumberNo. 18821.,18821.
Citation390 F.2d 616
PartiesRobert HARRIS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Donald L. Schmidt, of McMahon, Kieffer & Schmidt, Clayton, Mo., for appellant.

John A. Newton, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., for appellee, Veryl L. Riddle, U. S. Atty., on the brief.

Before VOGEL, Senior Circuit Judge, and GIBSON and LAY, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Since the argument in this case, recent Supreme Court decisions in Marchetti v. United States, January 29, 1968, 390 U.S. 39, 88 S.Ct. 697, 19 L.Ed.2d 889, and Grosso v. United States, January 29, 1968, 390 U.S. 62, 88 S.Ct. 709, 19 L.Ed. 2d 902, have held that the wagering tax provisions of Title 26 U.S.C.A. may not be enforced by criminally punishing those individuals who have properly asserted their privilege against self-incrimination in defense of their non-compliance with the provisions.

The appellant was convicted of operating a lottery without paying the occupational tax imposed by § 4411 of Title 26 U.S.C.A. The appellant has raised several contentions on this appeal unrelated to constitutional issues involving the wagering tax statutes. The appellant has also raised for the first time in his appeal brief an assertion that criminal enforcement of the wagering tax statutes violates his right against self-incrimination. Thus, while the constitutionality of the application of the wagering tax statutes was not raised below, it is raised here. The issue here thus becomes whether appellant "* * defended a failure to comply with the wagering tax statutes with a proper assertion of the privilege against self-incrimination." Marchetti v. United States, supra, 390 U.S. at 42, 88 S.Ct. at 699.

In Grosso v. United States, supra, while the appellant had properly raised the privilege in defense of the 26 U.S. C.A. § 4401 charges and a related 18 U.S.C.A. § 371 charge, he had failed to assert the privilege in defense of 26 U.S. C.A. § 4411 charges either at trial or at any stage of the appellate proceedings, including the Supreme Court review. The court there felt that the failure was understandable in view of its Kahriger and Lewis decisions1 and being unable to find "any evidence on which a finding of waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination might properly be predicated," 390 U.S. 71, 88 S.Ct. 715, the court reversed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2106.

28 U.S.C.A. § 2106 provides:

"The Supreme Court or any other court of appellate jurisdiction may affirm, modify, vacate, set aside or reverse any judgment, decree, or order of a court lawfully brought before it for review, and
...

To continue reading

Request your trial
16 cases
  • U.S. v. Byers
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • 24 Julio 1984
    ...207, 208, 144 F.2d 532, 533 (1944); United States v. Indiviglio, supra note 16, 352 F.2d at 280 n. 7; Harris v. United States, 390 F.2d 616, 616-617 (8th Cir.1968); United States v. Patrin, 575 F.2d 708, 712 (9th Cir.1978); Kohatsu v. United States, 351 F.2d 898, 901 n. 4 (9th Cir.1965), ce......
  • United States v. Whitehead
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit
    • 3 Marzo 1970
    ...Greenwood v. United States, 392 F.2d 558 (4th Cir. 1968); United States v. Manfredonia, 391 F.2d 229 (2d Cir. 1968); Harris v. United States, 390 F.2d 616 (8th Cir. 1968); but see Howard v. United States, 397 F. 2d 72 (9th Cir. We are urged to hold these tax measures unconstitutional in tha......
  • Caffey, In re
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • 25 Junio 1968
    ...assertion would have been futile under the preexisting law. (Grosso, 390 U.S. at pp. 70--71, 88 S.Ct. 709; see also Harris v. United States (8th Cir. 1968) 390 F.2d 616). There is no indication, however, whether the Marchetti, Grosso, and Haynes cases will be applied to release prisoners wh......
  • Scogin v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • 20 Julio 1971
    ...vacated and remanded on other grounds 397 U.S. 662 (1970);3 Drennon v. United States, 393 F.2d 342 (8th Cir. 1968); Harris v. United States, 390 F.2d 616 (8th Cir. 1968); Dillon v. United States, 389 F.2d 381 (8th Cir. 1968). Similar reasoning compels us to hold that appellee did not waive ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT