Johnson v. United States
| Decision Date | 28 February 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 7442.,7442. |
| Parties | JOHNSON v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
William H. Collins, of Washington, D. C., for appellant.
David A. Pine, U. S. Atty., and Arthur J. McLaughlin, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of Washington, D. C., for appellee.
Before GRONER, Chief Justice, and EDGERTON and RUTLEDGE, Associate Justices.
Appellant Johnson shot and killed George Scandalis on December 18, 1938. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. He moved for a new trial on the ground, among others, of newly discovered evidence. The District Court overruled the motion.
Johnson, a colored laborer 22 years old, worked in a bakery. George Scandalis was his foreman. On December 17, 1938, Scandalis discharged Johnson. On December 18 Johnson returned to the plant, ostensibly to learn why he had been discharged. Scandalis, a strong man heavier than Johnson, seized him and put him out. Some 30 or 45 minutes later Johnson returned to the bakery and shot Scandalis. Eye-witnesses testified variously that Scandalis was retreating, standing still, and coming forward; but no one who testified at the trial, except appellant himself, saw anything menacing in the conduct or appearance of Scandalis. Johnson and Scandalis were said to be five or six, or eight, feet apart when Scandalis was shot. Appellant alone testified that "He was coming toward me to jump on me again." The court was scrupulously fair to appellant, and charged the jury on self-defense and on manslaughter, but the total lack of corroboration of appellant made his story hopeless. At the trial it appeared to be, as the court later said that it was, "evident that Scandalis' movement from the oven room had nothing to do with defendant."
Robert Thomas was an eye-witness of the shooting. He testified at the coroner's inquest, and was on the list of witnesses which the government furnished to appellant's counsel, but he was not called at the trial. The government tried without success to locate him. Presumably appellant's counsel assumed he would be produced. After conviction they got from Thomas an affidavit which stated that at the time of the shooting George Scandalis The court thereupon held a hearing and examined Thomas. It appeared at this hearing that appellant's counsel who drew the affidavit, and Thomas had misunderstood each other; for Thomas testified that Scandalis made his lunge after Johnson's first shot, though before his second. But Thomas insisted that Scandalis, before the shooting began, advanced toward Johnson "in a menacing manner." He testified that "Scandalis came from the oven room and started toward this boy Johnson, and I could see he was pretty mad." He testified that Johnson had stopped, Scandalis was going toward him, and the men were only two or three feet apart, when the first shot was fired. The court asked Thomas what he meant by "a menacing manner," and he replied: Thomas also testified that At the end of the hearing the court said: Thomas confirmed this paraphrase of his testimony.
The court found that this testimony, "instead of helping defendant, tends strongly to corroborate in a general way the testimony presented by the government at the trial." The court's action in overruling the motion for a new trial was plainly...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
MacKenna v. Ellis
...had is something less than adequate judicial guidance and the furnishing of effective counsel to an accused. In Johnson v. United States, 1940, 71 App.D.C. 400, 110 F.2d 562, 563, the court "The government says that, even if this be conceded, Thomas\'s testimony was, in the exercise of due ......
-
Brubaker v. Dickson
...Kyle v. United States, 263 F.2d 657 (9th Cir. 1959); Tucker v. United States, 235 F.2d 238 (9th Cir. 1956); Johnson v. United States, 71 App.D.C. 400, 110 F.2d 562 (1940). 49 Jones v. Huff, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 254, 152 F.2d 14, 15 (1945). 50 Linden v. Dickson, 287 F.2d 55, 57-58 (9th Cir. 1961)......
-
Mitchell v. United States
...assistance of counsel extend through form to substance. "The right to counsel is not formal but substantial." Johnson v. United States, 71 App.D.C. 400, 401, 110 F.2d 562, 563. To dilute the right so as to eliminate consideration of competence in a particular case would at times leave only ......
-
Edwards v. United States
...U.S. 583, 589, 47 S.Ct. 478, 71 L.Ed. 787. 17 Shields v. United States, 273 U.S. 583, 47 S.Ct. 478, 71 L.Ed. 787; Johnson v. United States, 71 App.D.C. 400, 110 F.2d 562; Duffy v. State, 151 Md. 456, 475, 135 A. 189, 196; State v. Shutzler, 82 Wash. 365, 144 P. 284; Fina v. United States, 1......