Hug v. United States

• Decision Date: 24 March 1964
• Docket Number: No. 15401.,15401.
• Citation: 329 F.2d 475
• Parties: Norman Carl HUG, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

329 F.2d 475 (1964)

Norman Carl HUG, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 15401.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

March 24, 1964.

Emanuel Shapiro, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant; Morris A. Shenker, Bernard J. Mellman, St. Louis, Mo., Jacques M. Schiffer, New York City, Hardy, Logan & Tross, Louisville, Ky., on brief.

William E. Scent, Louisville, Ky., and Stuart R. Pollak, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for appellee; Herbert J. Miller, Jr., Asst. Atty., General Criminal Div., Robert D. Peloquin, Edward F. Harrington, Stuart R. Pollak, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., on brief.

Before CECIL and O'SULLIVAN, Circuit Judges, McALLISTER, Senior Circuit Judge.

McALLISTER, Senior Circuit Judge.

Norman Carl Hug was convicted by a jury of perjury committed while testifying before a Grand Jury in the Western District of Kentucky. He appeals, claiming the conviction was based upon the testimony of only one person, which was not corroborated by any other witness or by circumstances inconsistent with his innocence. The government contends that the charge of perjury was sustained by the testimony of one witness, Arvel Decker; and that such testimony was corroborated by circumstances which were inconsistent with appellant's innocence. Testimony of one witness, so corroborated, is sufficient to sustain the conviction, under the rule announced in United States v. Wood, 14 Pet. 430, 39 U.S. 430, 439, 440, 10 L.Ed. 527. Other contentions will be reviewed in the course of this opinion.

The perjury charged against appellant Hug is set forth in the indictment to the effect that Hug appeared before a Grand Jury in the District Court for the Western District of Kentucky and testified as follows:

"Q. During the year 1961, did you give or turn over custody of $1,000 in cash to Arvel Decker at any place within the limits of the City of Louisville?

"A. No, Sir."

The government contends that such answer was false, and that Hug was, therefore, guilty of perjury.

At the time of the claimed perjury, the Grand Jury was conducting an investigation pertaining to possible violations in the Western District of Kentucky of Title 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 371 and 1001, and Title 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 501(c) and 439(c) and other federal criminal statutes. During the course of the investigation it became material that the Grand Jury should know and should be informed as to whether, among other matters, Stoy Decker, former president of Local 86 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, had used certain monies, in conducting his defense in certain criminal proceedings, that were transferred or given to him, in violation of Title 29 U.S.C.A. § 501.

The Grand Jury investigation covered a broad field involving the transfer of union funds contrary to the prohibition of various sections of the above-named statutes; and, in brief, the Grand Jury wanted to find out whether such funds were used for Stoy Decker's benefit and, if so, where they came from, and how they got to Stoy Decker. The government was not investigating Hug. It declared in open court that it had no information that the above-mentioned sum of $1,000 was stolen money, or that it was money illegally brought into the State of Kentucky, and stated it knew of no federal violation that could have been committed by appellant Hug in getting the money and transferring it to Arvel Decker, nor did any of the circumstances of appellant Hug's conduct in securing the money, or paying it over to Arvel Decker, provide a link in a chain of evidence which could incriminate Hug. The Grand Jury was occupied only with investigating the flow of money through various Teamster organizations to see whether there was any illegal use of funds.

On appeal, the evidence and all inferences to be drawn therefrom must be viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party and in support of the verdict. White Oak Coal Company, Inc. v. United Mine Workers of America, 318 F.2d 591 (C.A. 6).

It appears from the evidence that Stoy Decker, as above mentioned, was a former president of the Teamsters Local 86, and had been convicted in the District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on or about April 1, 1961, on an indictment charging him with embezzlement. After his conviction, he was free on bail, and his case was set for sentencing on April 12, 1961. The day before he was sentenced, and while he was still out on bail, on April 11, 1961, he needed $1,000, as he testified, "for the furtherance of my legal proceedings." He testified that he then called James Hoffa in Washington, D. C., and told him that he needed $1,000. After speaking with Hoffa, Stoy Decker called the headquarters of Teamsters Local 89 in Louisville and talked to Marion Winstead, the secretary and treasurer of Teamsters Local 89. Stoy Decker stated that he requested Winstead to send someone to Chicago to Mr. Allen Dorfman's office on East Huron Street — that he needed to get someone to meet Mr. Dorfman at his office. He testified he had known Dorfman for five or six years and had had dealings with him in connection with Stoy's duties with Teamsters Local 86; that he had seen him at Teamsters' meetings, and had purchased a "legal fee" policy from him for $10,000, which is an insurance policy providing, supposedly, that if Stoy got into trouble, he could collect fees for lawyers and bonding fees up to the face amount of the policy. But the policy was cancelled after Stoy made a claim under it. Thereafter, Stoy made two or three trips to Chicago to see Dorfman about obtaining payment of a claim under the policy, but was unsuccessful in his efforts.

Stoy Decker was taken into custody about 6 P.M. on the evening of April 11, 1961, because of the denial by the Supreme Court of a writ of certiorari in another criminal case in which he had been appellant. He then called his brother, Arvel Decker, and told him to meet Norman Hug at the Federal Building in Louisville, "as I had proposed to have met him prior to my arrest."

On April 11, Stoy Decker's brother, Arvel Decker, a former member of Teamsters Local 89, testified that he communicated with appellant Hug and asked him if Hug was the man whom he was supposed to meet at a parking lot at 8th and Broadway in Louisville. Appellant Hug was assistant business agent of Teamsters Local 89. In reply to Arvel Decker's question, Hug told him that he would meet him the next day at a certain time at the parking lot. Arvel Decker had known Hug for five or six years. Hug had been associated with Stoy Decker in Local 89, before Stoy Decker had become president of Local 86. According to appellant Hug's testimony, Arvel Decker called him by telephone before noon on April 11. Hug, himself, testified that Arvel Decker told him that Stoy Decker had talked to Arvel, and that Arvel wanted to talk to Hug about going to Chicago; that Hug then suggested that Arvel come out and talk about it; that Arvel did come to see him and told him that Stoy would like to have appellant Hug go to Chicago and see Allen Dorfman about some money. Hug testified that Arvel gave him the address of Dorfman in Chicago. Hug further testified that after this conversation, he bought a round-trip airline ticket to Chicago; that he flew to Chicago early in the morning of April 12. When he arrived in Chicago, Hug testified, he went to the office of Mr. Allen Dorfman on Huron Street. He testified that Arvel Decker had given him the address of Dorfman, and that he had never been in Dorfman's office before. However, he testified, as above mentioned, that he had been told to see Dorfman about the money. He said that he did not know Dorfman personally, but had been in Chicago on a number of other occasions at union meetings and had heard people talk about Dorfman, even to the extent that "they may have pointed him out." Hug further testified that he thereafter left Dorfman's office, and returned by plane to Louisville on April 12. Arvel Decker met him at the parking place that had been agreed upon as a rendezvous upon his return. When they met, Arvel testified, Hug gave him the $1,000 for Stoy Decker. Arvel testified that he suggested that he count the money in Hug's presence; and he did so. The amount of $1,000, Arvel said, was made up of twenty fifty-dollar bills. Hug stated that the reason he had gone to Chicago to get the money for Stoy Decker, was because he had worked with Stoy for six years, and because of his friendship for him. Arvel Decker had given Hug the cash necessary to buy the round-trip airline ticket to Chicago and return. Hug said that it did not strike him as strange that Stoy Decker would call upon Hug to go to Chicago, rather than have his brother, Arvel Decker, make the trip to get the money.

Hug's claim, according to his testimony, is that when he arrived in Chicago, and went to Dorfman's office to see him and get the money, the man in charge of the office told him that Dorfman was out of town; that Hug then took the plane back to Louisville; that he saw Arvel Decker at the parking lot at the time they had agreed to meet; and that he told Arvel that Hug could not get the money because Dorfman was out of town.

The government proved that a check in the amount of $1,000, drawn on the personal account of Allen Dorfman, dated April 12, 1961, signed by Dorfman, and made payable to cash, was cashed by the Exchange National Bank of Chicago. The check was cashed shortly after the opening of the bank at 9 A.M. on April 12, 1961, on the morning of the day Hug had arrived in Chicago from Louisville, and had gone to Dorfman's office. The proofs showed that Dorfman's check for $1,000 was one of the first checks cashed that morning — in fact, the fourth check cashed that day, after the bank opened. There was no endorsement on the back of the check. A bank official, the auditor, testified that a check for $1,000, payable to cash, would be cashed by...