Loraine v. United States
| Decision Date | 12 November 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 21079.,21079. |
| Citation | 396 F.2d 335 |
| Parties | Dennis Henry LORAINE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Russell E. Parsons (argued), Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant.
Anthony M. Glassman (argued), Asst. U. S. Atty., Howard B. Frank, Asst. U. S. Atty., Robert L. Brosio, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Criminal Division, William M. Byrne, Jr., U. S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.
Before HAMLEY and ELY, Circuit Judges, and CRARY,* District Judge.
Certiorari Denied November 12, 1968. See 89 S.Ct. 292.
Dennis Henry Loraine was charged, in three counts, with offenses involving counterfeit government obligations. The first count charged a conspiracy in which Loraine, Edward S. Friedland, Richard Randall, Robert James Terry and Thomas Chambers Windsor Roe were named as co-conspirators.1 The second and third counts charged substantive offenses, Loraine and Terry being named in count two, and Loraine alone in count three.2
Following a jury trial, Loraine was convicted on all three counts. After the imposition of sentence, he took this appeal. He argues here that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict of guilty on any of the counts and that the trial court therefore erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal.
Viewed in a light most favorable to the Government, the evidence reveals the following circumstances and events: Beginning in late April 1965, Loraine and the alleged co-conspirators participated in a series of meetings, carried on extensive correspondence and telephone communications, and engaged in foreign and domestic travel in an effort to obtain and use counterfeit money in large amounts. The prime purpose of this undertaking was to overcome serious personal financial difficulties being experienced by Loraine and Roe.
The initial efforts in this direction, pursued during late April, all of May and most of June, 1965, proved abortive. However, after Randall introduced Loraine to Terry in Los Angeles on June 27, 1965, they began to achieve positive results. About July 5, 1965, Loraine, Terry and Joel Lee, Terry's attorney, had dinner together in Florida. During the dinner Loraine stated that Roe was in temporary financial difficulty and needed about one million dollars.
At a subsequent meeting, Lee told Loraine that he had a source that could supply Roe's needs. Loraine expressed interest and Lee said that he would attempt to obtain samples of what could be supplied. Later that week Loraine telephoned Terry and requested him to call Lee and ask if Lee had "done anything" with regard to Roe's problem. Loraine further instructed Terry to tell Lee "if he had not been able to locate or come up with any samples * * * to forget about it." Terry reported back to Loraine that Lee hadn't been able to obtain anything.
About July 18, 1965, Loraine received a telephone call from Terry in Florida. Terry said that $500,000 in counterfeit money in one hundred dollar denominations of United States currency could be made available upon short notice, and up to $5,000,000 could ultimately be made available. Loraine was advised that Joel Lee was Terry's contact for the counterfeit money.
On July 25, 1965, Roe, then in Europe, telephoned Randall in Los Angeles and said he had to speak to Loraine urgently. Randall gave this message to Loraine who told Randall that he had finally found what he was looking for. Loraine told Randall that he had found counterfeit American money through Terry. Loraine stated to Randall that Terry's contact, Joel Lee, had made arrangements to print counterfeit one hundred dollar bills and that in the previous ten days or two weeks the money had been printed.
About July 26, 1965, Loraine asked Terry to pick up Lee at the Los Angeles airport. Terry did so and the two proceeded to Mickey Hargitay's house in Los Angeles, where Loraine was staying. After Lee and Loraine had met in a bedroom at the Hargitay house, Lee went to the automobile to get his briefcase and then returned to the bedroom. Loraine was not then in the bedroom, but Terry entered the room. Terry observed quite a few one hundred dollar bills in United States currency neatly stacked in Lee's open briefcase.
Later in the day Terry and Lee met Loraine at a coffee shop and Loraine there told Terry that Roe, then in Switzerland, was interested in seeing Terry regarding the film "Blues for Mr. Charley."3 Loraine also asked Terry if he could leave the next day for Switzerland. After working out financial details, Loraine told Terry to telephone Roe in Switzerland and inform him that Terry was to go over there. In addition to discussing film matters, Loraine told Terry that he could do him a great favor by taking with him some papers that Loraine had to get to Roe.
Lee and Terry then went to Terry's motel room and while Terry was packing Lee handed him three packages tightly wrapped in newspaper. Each package was light in weight and the size of a large book. Terry put the three packages in his overnight bag and left that evening by plane for Geneva, via Paris.
On the same day, July 26, 1965, Loraine told Randall that about $500,000 in counterfeit one hundred dollar bills was on the way to Roe in Switzerland with Terry as courier. Loraine also told Randall that he only paid for those bills that looked good since some of them had not come out too well. Loraine asked Randall to telephone Roe and tell him there would be no charge for the poor quality counterfeit bills which had been included in the packages. Loraine also told Randall to tell Roe that he should pay Terry $5,000 in genuine bills as a fee for taking the counterfeit money to Roe. Roe was also to send Loraine $55,000 after Roe cashed the counterfeit money. This latter sum was to cover the balance due to the suppliers of the counterfeit money.
Randall telephoned Roe and relayed this information to him, advising that Terry would reach Switzerland the next day. Randall also told Roe that Loraine had found that $200,000 of the counterfeit money was defective but that Roe would receive $300,000 in well-printed counterfeit bills. Randall explained to Roe that Terry was also delivering to Roe $75,000 of the poor-quality counterfeit bills in case Roe could do anything with it.
Terry entered Roe's office in Lausanne, Switzerland on the morning of July 28, 1965. They first discussed film matters. Terry then told Roe that he was instructed to give him the contents of the briefcase which Terry had with him at the time. Terry put the three packages on the table and then stepped out of the room to give Roe's secretary his plane ticket.
Shortly afterwards, Terry reëntered Roe's office. At that time, Roe was standing behind his desk examining a large pile of one hundred dollar bills. Terry told Roe that the counterfeiting was done in a great hurry at Loraine's request and the ink was not dry before the packages were put together. Terry also stated that the paper was not the best quality and that in some of the bills the numbers were blurred.
Terry told Roe that it was Lee's advice not to put the money into circulation in Europe, it apparently being the understanding of Lee and Loraine that it was only to be posted as collateral to secure loans. Abiding by Loraine's instructions, Roe gave Terry $5,000.
Roe subsequently exchanged $5,900 in counterfeit bills into Swiss francs at four banks in Geneva. At the fifth bank he visited the cashier refused to exchange a substantial number of bills, asserting that they were counterfeit. In view of this development, Roe telephoned Loraine and stated that he could not send him the $55,000 which Loraine had requested. Loraine replied that without the money he would be in trouble with his suppliers.
Terry returned to Los Angeles about July 28, 1965, and gave Loraine an account of Terry's meeting with Roe. Loraine later had a conversation with Randall at Hargitay's house in Los Angeles. He told Randall that he could not understand why Roe was passing the counterfeit money instead of using it for collateral, unless Roe was trying to implicate Loraine. Loraine also told Randall that the money had been made to order and that about ten million dollars worth of one hundred dollar bills had been made.
Having in mind the asserted weaknesses in the Government's case, as developed in detail in Loraine's briefs on...
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