Patterson v. United States

• Decision Date: 15 June 1966
• Docket Number: No. 18246.,18246.
• Citation: 361 F.2d 632
• Parties: Rudolph Valentine PATTERSON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

361 F.2d 632 (1966)

Rudolph Valentine PATTERSON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 18246.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

June 15, 1966.

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J. Derck Amerman, of Wegner, Wegner & Amerman, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellant.

Sidney P. Abramson, Asst. U. S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., for appellee.

Before VAN OOSTERHOUT, BLACKMUN and GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

VAN OOSTERHOUT, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Rudolph Valentine Patterson was charged in a two count indictment with transportation of a woman in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2421. Count I charges transportation from Cleveland, Ohio, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 27, 1964. Count II charges transportation from Toronto, Canada, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 19, 1965. Upon plea of not guilty, he was tried to a jury, found guilty on each count and thereafter sentenced to four and one-half years imprisonment on each count, the sentences to be served concurrently. This is an appeal from such final judgment.

Defendant urges that he is entitled to a reversal by reason of the following asserted prejudicial errors committed at his trial:

I. Conviction based upon insufficiently corroborated perjured testimony of one witness (Mrs. Driggins).

II. Misconduct of Government counsel.

III. Improper reception of other acts of interstate transportation for prostitution purposes.

IV. Receipt of hearsay testimony.

We have carefully read the entire record and have given full consideration to the asserted errors. For the reasons hereinafter set out, we find that no prejudicial error has been committed. We affirm the conviction.

I.

Defendant has not squarely raised the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence to support guilty verdicts upon each count but in his first point does in effect raise such issue. Defendant made a motion for verdict of acquittal at the close of the Government's case, which motion was overruled. Defendant then rested and offered no evidence. Thus the foundation is laid for review of the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict.

The evidence of course must be viewed in the light most favorable to the Government as the prevailing party. Mrs. Driggins, whose credibility as a witness is attacked, was the Government's principal witness. Her testimony clearly shows that she was transported in interstate commerce by the defendant as charged in each count of the indictment, that the transportation was for prostitution purposes, that she did in fact engage in prostitution at the end of each journey and that the profits of the ventures were paid to defendant.

It is quite true, as defendant charges, that there are inconsistencies in various facets of Mrs. Driggins' testimony. The trial court gave the usual instructions to the effect that the jury is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses, including therein the following:

"If you find that any witness has wilfully testified falsely with respect to any material issue herein, then you are at liberty to disregard his or her entire testimony, except so far as it may be corroborated by other credible testimony. Now, Carol Driggins is an admitted prostitute. You should examine her testimony and scrutinize with care. If it rings true, accept it. If it doesn\'t ring true, then reject it. That, of course, applies to all of the witnesses who have testified in this lawsuit."

The woman transported for prostitution purposes is considered a victim, not an accomplice. Wyatt v. United States, 362 U.S. 525, 80 S.Ct. 901, 4 L.Ed. 2d 931. Under federal law, a conviction can rest upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice if it is not otherwise unsubstantial on its face. Williams v. United States, 8 Cir., 328 F.2d 256, 259. Obviously, a conviction can rest upon the uncorroborated testimony of a credible witness who is not an accomplice.

The record contains very substantial corroboration of Mrs. Driggins' testimony. Hotel records and oral testimony show registration of defendant and Mrs. Driggins as husband and wife under fictitious names. Evidence offered shows that defendant escorted Mrs. Driggins to the bar where she conducted her solicitation. Mrs. Driggins was arrested in Minneapolis for soliciting and at the time of her arrest in the hotel room in which she and defendant were registered guests, air trip ticket receipts for the trip from Toronto to Minneapolis were seized. They were issued to the fictitious names used by defendant and Mrs. Driggins as described by Mrs. Driggins in her testimony.

Substantial contacts between defendant and Mrs. Driggins at Cleveland, Ohio, where they both resided, are shown as well as acts of the defendant in transporting Mrs. Driggins and others to various places in interstate commerce for prostitution purposes. Corroboration of payment to defendant of income earned by Mrs. Driggins through prostitution is present. There is also evidence of a complaint by a Minneapolis landlord from whom defendant rented apartments occupied by prostitutes of the activities carried on, and particularly of defendant's use of a red light visible from the street in one of the rented apartments. We see no need for further pursuing a résumé of the evidence. We are convinced that the court properly denied the motion for acquittal. The record contains abundant evidence to support the guilty verdicts.

II.

Defendant's charge of misconduct of Government counsel falls into two categories. Defendant's first complaint is that Government counsel showed some letters alleged to have been written by Mrs. Driggins to the defendant, in violation of an agreement not to show such letters to Mrs. Driggins. On Friday afternoon, Mrs. Driggins denied writing such letters, marked Exhibits A to F. Defendant's counsel requested that the Government provide the services of a handwriting expert. Doubt was expressed whether a handwriting expert was available in Minneapolis. After some discussion, Government counsel took the letters and agreed to see what he could do about submitting them to a handwriting expert. We find nothing in the record to support any agreement on the part of the Government counsel not to show the letters to Mrs. Driggins.

Some difficulty was experienced in finding a handwriting expert. Upon the reconvening of court on Monday morning, Mrs. Driggins admitted writing the letters in controversy and such letters were admitted in evidence. She admitted that she had been shown the letters over the weekend by the prosecutor.

No prejudice could possibly have been caused to the defendant by this incident. Mrs. Driggins' admission of authorship of the letters was inconsistent with her prior testimony. Defendant was seeking to have the letters received in evidence for the purpose of showing statements in the letters inconsistent with Mrs. Driggins' direct testimony. Her admission made the letters available for such purpose. A handwriting expert could not possibly have accomplished anything more.

Defendant's second misconduct charge relates to the prosecutor's use in both his opening statement and his argument to the jury of a reference to the crime charged as being in violation of the "White Slave Traffic Act" and referring to Mrs. Driggins as the victim, and to references made in closing argument to the defendant as a pimp. When the prosecutor in his opening statement said that Mrs. Driggins was the so-called victim of the White Slave Traffic Act, the following record was made:

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