Lupino v. United States, 16163

• Decision Date: 07 July 1959
• Docket Number: No. 16163,16164.,16163
• Citation: 268 F.2d 799
• Parties: Rocco Salvatore LUPINO, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America. John Frank AZZONE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

268 F.2d 799 (1959)

Rocco Salvatore LUPINO, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America.

John Frank AZZONE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America.

Nos. 16163, 16164.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

July 7, 1959.

Richard B. Ryan, St. Paul, Minn. (Sydney W. Goff and Allen H. Aaron, St. Paul, Minn., were with him on the brief), for appellants.

Fallon Kelly, U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn. (Clifford Janes, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn., was with him on the brief), for appellee.

Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and WOODROUGH and MATTHES, Circuit Judges.

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge.

The appellants were separately indicted in two counts for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1073, commonly known as the Fugitive Felon Act, in that each of them did (in the first count) "feloniously flee, move and travel in interstate commerce from the County of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, to the City of Florence, in the County of Florence, State of South Carolina, * * * with intent to avoid prosecution under the laws of the State of Minnesota for the crime of murder in the first degree as defined by the laws of the State of Minnesota, to-wit, the murder of one Anthony Ralph De Vito committed on or about the 28th day of September, 1953, in the Third Division, State and District of Minnesota." And in the second count "to avoid prosecution under the laws of Minnesota for the crime of kidnapping as defined by the laws of Minnesota, to-wit, the kidnapping of one Anthony Ralph De Vito committed on or about the 28th day of September, 1953, in the Third Division, State and District of Minnesota." They plead not guilty and were tried at the same time, were found guilty by the jury and each was sentenced under general sentence to five years imprisonment and $5,000 fine. They appeal separately but their appeals are heard on one record and are submitted as provided by Rule 10(f) of this court, 28 U.S.C.A., upon stipulation approved and certified to us by the District Judge presiding at their trial as the record necessary to fully present the questions raised by the appeals as limited in the stipulation.

Through this procedure but a single point for reversal of the judgments has been urged upon us. It is established that no prosecution has ever been commenced by the State of Minnesota against either of these appellants or against any other person for either of the alleged crimes of murder of Anthony Ralph De Vito or kidnapping of him. Appellants contend that such state prosecution for one offense or the other is a condition precedent to their prosecution for violation of the Fugitive Felon Act. They properly preserved the point by stipulation of the fact, pretrial motions for dismissal, motions for acquittal made at the close of all the evidence, and motions for acquittal after verdicts and the Court held and instructed the jury that the Government was not required to plead or prove the existence or pendency of a prosecution by the State of Minnesota against either of the defendants for either of the alleged crimes of murder or kidnapping. If in law a state prosecution was an essential prerequisite as contended, the conviction appealed from should be reversed and the indictments against appellants dismissed.

Counsel for appellants analyze the wording of Section 1073, taking first the lone word "prosecution" appearing therein and then the word in its immediate context and then considering the section with its two paragraphs as a whole to persuade that the true intent of the section is to denounce only one who flees into another state with the proscribed intent after the state from which he flees has begun prosecution against him.

But we are not so persuaded. The statute denounces any person who acts in a certain way "with intent to avoid prosecution" and in that context "to avoid prosecution" conveys the concept of acting to avoid "being prosecuted". If one speaks of a person acting "to avoid persecution" or "to avoid execution" certainly without more the thought is conveyed of a person acting to avoid being persecuted or executed. It is even so as to prosecution.

We agree with the reasoning and conclusion of the Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit in United States v. Bando, 244 F.2d 833. In that case the charge was conspiracy to transport a fugitive against whom no state charge had been filed. Defendants' guilt depended on such flight being proscribed by Section 1073. Defendants' counsel argued that it would not be an offense under Section 1073 for a person who committed the crime of mayhem to flee across the state lines before a prosecution against him had been formally instituted, as by the filing of a charge or indictment. But the court said, 244 F.2d at page 843:

"An analysis of Sec. 1073 does not support any such narrow and strained construction The words `to avoid prosecution\' mean `to avoid being prosecuted.\' The statute does not say `to avoid a pending prosecution.\' Nor is the word `charged\' used in the first half of Sec. 1073 in relation to the flight `to avoid prosecution\'; but it is used, quite naturally, in the second half of Sec. 1073 in relation to a flight `to avoid giving testimony.\' The two are separate crimes. The latter requires some pending criminal proceeding. The former does not. It is sufficient if the fleeing felon is `subject to prosecution.\' United States v. Miller, D.C., 17 F.Supp. 65, 67.

"Sec. 1073 was part of the anti-racketeering legislation passed by the 73d Congress (1934). It was intended to enable federal agencies to go into action against criminals who `flee from the scene of the crime beyond the jurisdiction of the State wherein the crime is committed and eventually escape punishment entirely.\' The construction of Sec. 1073 which appellants offer, would serve in great measure to frustrate the federal law enforcement agencies by preventing them from going into action promptly, and it would set a premium on a quick get-away across State lines by the criminal who had committed one of the crimes of violence listed in Sec. 1073."

In Barker v. United States, 5 Cir., 178 F.2d 803, 805, the indictment against Barker charged that he traveled from a place in Texas to one in Mississippi intending thereby to avoid prosecution for an offense of burglary committed by him in...