Poulos v. United States
| Decision Date | 02 January 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 9609.,9609. |
| Citation | 387 F.2d 4 |
| Parties | George Dan POULOS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Robert A. Dufty, Denver, Colo., for appellant.
Guy L. Goodwin, Asst. U. S. Atty. (Newell A. George, U. S. Atty., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before BREITENSTEIN, HILL and SETH, Circuit Judges.
Appellant was indicted in two counts for making false statements and representations of a material fact in applications to the Federal Aviation Agency for an airman's medical certificate. The appellant was tried, convicted on both counts, and was sentenced to four years imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently with each other. The court further recommended that the sentences be served concurrently with the sentence the appellant was then serving in the Kansas State Penitentiary.
In this appeal appellant contends that there was no evidence to prove that the representations were material and consequently proof of an essential element of the offense is lacking. The appellant also contends that the application of the statute to this case violates basic requirements of fairness under the due process clause of the fifth amendment in that the question presented was not clear and that the answers given upon which the indictment was based were excusably unclear or incomplete.
The record shows that upon two occasions, the appellant completed an application for a medical certificate to be issued by the Federal Aviation Agency. This application was made on the agency's form 1004. The portion of this form to be completed by the applicant had spaces for the applicant's occupation, military service, employer, length of employment, and the nature of the certificate already held by the applicant. The form has spaces also for total flying time to date, flying time the last six months, and whether the applicant has had an aircraft instrument rating. The balance of this portion of the form to be completed by the applicant, other than the two questions here in issue, relate clearly to the applicant's medical history. These questions are to be answered by placing a checkmark in either a yes or a no column opposite the "condition" that constitutes the question. The first question, for example, is "frequent or severe headaches." There follow twenty-one similar questions in the same form. The twenty-second question under the same heading is "record of traffic convictions"; the twenty-third is "record of other convictions," and the twenty-fourth is "other illnesses." This "medical history" portion of the form directs that if a "yes" answer is given, "describe condition under remarks." The appellant placed checks in the "yes" column opposite both "record of traffic convictions," and "record of other convictions." In the remarks portion of the form, he added "Convicted of Grand Larceny 1948," and "convicted of several minor traffic convictions, jaywalking, speeding," on one of the applications. On the other similar application which is the subject of the second count in the indictment, he added, as far as here pertinent,
Following the submission of the application which is the subject of count two in the indictment, the Federal Aviation Agency learned of other criminal convictions of the appellant and returned the form for further data, indicating by checkmarks the areas where the additional data should be furnished. These checkmarks covered the matters in question together with medical questions. The appellant on the form made some minor additions and added "on appeal" in relation to "record of other convictions," and his lawyer returned the form to the Federal Aviation Agency. Further correspondence was had, and the FAA finally advised the appellant that in view of his criminal convictions, a psychiatric examination would be necesary.
The record further shows that during the course of the applicant's flying instructions, he was advised by the instructor to secure a medical certificate. The doctor to whom he went on this occasion refused to examine him by reason of his...
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U.S. v. Radetsky
...Government proof under the standard applied in criminal cases that the alleged misstatement was material. See Poulos v. United States, 387 F.2d 4, 6 (10th Cir.). The application of these principles to a statement requesting payment from the Government has been made clear in Bartlett and Com......
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U.S. v. Wolf, 79-1773
...The matter of materiality was considered by this court in Gonzales v. United States, 286 F.2d 118 (10th Cir.), and in Poulos v. United States, 387 F.2d 4 (10th Cir.), and the test applied was whether or not the representation ("answer" in the cited case) "has the natural tendency to influen......
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U.S. v. Norberg, 79-1116
...be accurate or at least not knowingly false, Kay v. United States, 303 U.S. 1, 5-6, 58 S.Ct. 468, 82 L.Ed. 607 (1938); Poulos v. United States, 387 F.2d 4 (10th Cir. 1968); Blake v. United States, 323 F.2d 245 (8th Cir. 1963). Requiring proof of reliance on the statement by the lending inst......
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United States v. Weiss, 37-70.
...was the way he usually wrote. 3 The instruction on materiality was in accord with the applicable law, as stated in Poulos v. United States, 10 Cir., 387 F.2d 4, 6; and Gonzales v. United States, 10 Cir., 286 F.2d 118, 4 Steiger v. United States, 10 Cir., 373 F.2d 133, 135; Williams v. Unite......