Swanne Soon Young Pang v. United States, 13728.

• Citation: 209 F.2d 245
• Decision Date: 26 January 1954
• Docket Number: No. 13728.,13728.
• Parties: SWANNE SOON YOUNG PANG v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

209 F.2d 245 (1953)

SWANNE SOON YOUNG PANG v. UNITED STATES.

No. 13728.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

December 21, 1953.

Rehearing Denied January 26, 1954.

O. P. Soares, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellant.

A. William Barlow, U. S. Atty., Nat Richardson, Jr., and Louis Blissard, Asst. U. S. Attys., Honolulu, Hawaii, Lloyd H. Burke, U. S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for appellee.

Before DENMAN, Chief Judge, and BONE and ORR, Circuit Judges.

DENMAN, Chief Judge.

Pang appeals from a judgment and sentence by the district court after trial by jury resulted in a verdict of guilty on one of two counts charged.

The questions presented by the appeal are: (1) whether it was error for the trial judge to instruct the jury on aiding and abetting (accessory before the fact) where the indictment charges the defendant only with being a principal and (2) whether there is sufficient evidence to support the verdict of the jury.

Appellant Pang and two co-defendants, Weiler and Davis, were indicted on charges of violating the Mann Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2421, by transporting women for immoral purposes within the Hawaiian Islands. Pang was indicted on two counts and was found not guilty as to Count I and guilty as to Count II.

Count II of the indictment charges Pang and Weiler with transporting Margaret Westphal and Jane Doe from Kolo Wharf, Island of Molokai, to Maunaloa Camp on the same island for the purposes of prostitution.

The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680, shows that as to the Jane Doe accusation Weiler chartered Davis' boat and transported three women from Honolulu to Kaunakakai, Island of Molokai, where the boat was met by Pang. After some conversation between Pang and Weiler, the boat went from Kaunakakai to Kolo Harbor. Pang did not travel on the boat but made the trip by car. The women engaged in prostitution at Kolo Harbor and the money was received by Pang and Weiler; and Pang moved a cushion for one of the women from the boat to the dock.

Later, Pang and Weiler accompanied two of the women and Margaret Westphal from the Harbor to Maunaloa Camp where the women again engaged in prostitution. While the women were "working" inside of a house, Pang sat on the porch. The car which originally took the girls to the boat in Honolulu belonged to Pang. The purpose of the trips was so that the women could engage in prostitution.

(A) Instructions:

In instructing the jury, the court stated of the defendants as follows:

"They are jointly indicted, and under another rule of law, namely, Section 2 of Title 18 as amended a person who aids, counsels, commands, induces or procures the commission of an offense is likewise punishable as a principal. Of course, the doer of the act is a principal without question, but the law regards aiders and abettors as also in the same category."

Appellant contends that the court erred in giving the above quoted instruction on aiders and abettors where the indictment alleged only that he had in fact transported women for immoral purposes within a territory of the United States. No authorities are cited in support of this position and we have found none. 18 U.S.C. § 2 formerly provided that: "Whoever commits an offense against the United States, or aids, abets, counsels, commands,...