U.S. v. Hanna, 80-5218
| Decision Date | 27 October 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-5218,80-5218 |
| Citation | 639 F.2d 192 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alfred HANNA, Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. . Unit B |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Shamim A. Mirza, Hialeah, Fla. (Court-appointed), for defendant-appellant.
Atlee W. Wampler, III, U. S. Atty., Steven E. M. Hartz, Asst. U. S. Atty., Miami, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before GODBOLD, KRAVITCH and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges.
Appellant Hanna was charged in a 148-count indictment with knowingly and intentionally encouraging and inducing the unlawful entry of 148 aliens into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(4). After a five day bench trial he was convicted on 12 counts and sentenced to four years on each count to be served concurrently.
Viewing the evidence and credibility choices in the light most favorable to the government, with all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, Glasser v. U.S., 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed.2d 680 (1942), the following was proved. Appellant was the captain of a vessel that picked up 148 Haitians from two ports in Haiti. He was employed to take the boat to Miami. At one port he assisted the aliens in boarding. He had not participated in negotiations between the aliens and the owners of the vessel, but prior to departure he was seen at the home of one of the persons to whom some of the aliens had paid their money for transportation to the United States; this person was the father of one of the owners. On route to the United States, a 12 day voyage, appellant left the vessel in a small boat, went to an island, and brought back food and water for the passengers.
On arrival at Miami, Hanna called police and told them he had picked up the passengers on a cay in the Bahamas where he had found them stranded. Actually he had instructed the aliens to confirm this story if they were apprehended. In the telephone conversation police told Hanna several times that he would not be involved and would not have any problem by reason of having gotten in touch with them.
1. The evidence of intent was sufficient. The trial judge found Hanna's story not credible. Applying the test for conviction based on circumstantial evidence, the trial judge as fact finder might reasonably have found that the evidence excluded every reasonable hypothesis except guilt. DeLuna v. U. S., 228 F.2d 114, 116 (5th Cir. 1955). The testimony was adequate to support a finding of guilt as principal or as an aider and abettor.
2. Hanna makes a cursory general claim that because he was placed in jail and the vessel and other crew members were released he was denied constitutional rights to secure the presence of witnesses. He had the fundamental right to compulsory process, but he made no effort to subpoena any witnesses. There is no evidence that the United States made the crew members unavailable to the defendant. There has been no proffer by Hanna that any specific crewman would have given any exculpatory evidence.
3. Hanna says there was insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction on counts 52 and 59 because the aliens named in these counts did not testify in person. We do not review this assertion because the concurrent sentence doctrine makes it unnecessary.
4. One...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Manning v. Caldwell for City of Roanoke
... ... at 27280 (Richardson, J., dissenting). The circumstances before us here merit a similar exercise of discretion. As noted above, the issue of vagueness was litigated ... ...
-
Manning v. Caldwell
... ... So yet again, the question for us is whether we should permit a 4-1-4 opinion that is at most ambiguous to overturn or greatly extend ... ...
-
U.S. v. Lopez
...conviction under § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)."). Lopez argues that his conduct was not as extensive as the defendant in United States v. Hanna, 639 F.2d 192, 193 (5th Cir. Unit B 1980), another decision where we affirmed a defendant boat conviction for encouraging or inducing the unlawful entry of ......
-
U.S. v. Reme, 83-5076
...as an element of the offense, and lack of payment does not render the evidence insufficient as a matter of law. U.S. v. Hanna, 639 F.2d 192, 194 (5th Cir. Unit B 1980), rehearing denied, 639 F.2d 194 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981). The indictment did state that one of the objects and goals of the c......
-
Immigration v. Religious Freedom in Trump’s America: Offering Legal Sanctuary in Places of Worship
...emphasized the importance which sovereign nations place upon controlling entry through their borders.”). 161. See United States v. Hanna, 639 F.2d 192, 194 (5th Cir. 1980) (discussing the potential interplay of criminal harboring and selective prosecution). 162. United States v. Armstrong, ......