U.S. v. Ritz
| Decision Date | 28 February 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1715,76-1715 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Joan Belle RITZ, Linda Ann Ritz, Robert M. Ritz, Jr. and John Paul Ritz, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Michael F. Cycmanick, Orlando, Fla. (Court-Appointed), for Joan Ritz.
Philip M. Schutzer, Orlando, Fla. (Court-Appointed), for Linda Ritz.
Donald R. Corbett, Orlando, Fla. (Court-Appointed), for Robert Ritz.
Alan C. Todd, Winter Park, Fla. (Court-Appointed), for John Ritz.
John L. Briggs, U. S. Atty., Jacksonville, Fla., William F. Duane, Harrison T. Slaughter, Jr., Asst. U. S. Attys., Orlando, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before TUTTLE, CLARK and RONEY, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal by members of the Ritz family of the unincorporated community of Bithlo, Florida from their convictions of having individually knowingly passed a total of seven counterfeit $50 bills between April 24 and August 24, 1975 and of having conspired together and with one other person to pass these counterfeit bills.
The principal grounds of appeal are: (1) lack of sufficient evidence of knowledge on the part of any of the four defendants of the counterfeit nature of the bills which they individually passed and lack of sufficient evidence to warrant the jury's finding that they had conspired together; (2) the alleged error of the trial court in permitting the Government to place the husband of one defendant who was also the father of two others and the father-in-law of the remaining defendant on the witness stand for questioning after the court had been informed that such witness would refuse to answer by claiming his rights under the Fifth Amendment.
Bearing in mind that conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 472 1 requires proof not only of the passing of the bill or note but also proof of intent to defraud, we outline the following statement of the proof as it affects each of the four individual defendants. There was a fifth defendant in the original indictment, but the case of Cindy Slagle, a friend of the family but not a relative, was severed for trial.
ROBERT RITZ lived in a trailer home with his wife, defendant Joan Ritz, his second son, defendant John Paul Ritz, his third son, Raymond Ritz, 18 years of age, and a young daughter, 14. Within a mile lived his oldest son, defendant Robert Ritz, Jr. with his wife, defendant Linda Ritz. He was engaged in the automobile repair business and driving a tow truck for a salary. In addition, he had a lean-to backyard auto repair shop where he, with the help of Robert, Jr. and John Paul, worked on body and fender repairs for cash. The nearest town with a bank is seven miles away. Robert Ritz, Sr. was a paterfamilias who divided out his money among his wife and children as they needed it. The earnings of the group were apparently minimal.
The indictment and trial involved the passing of seven counterfeit bills. For convenience in the discussion of the evidence, these bills will be numbered from one to seven and the evidence relating to the activities of each individual defendant will be discussed separately.
ROBERT RITZ, JR.
On April 24, Robert, Jr. and his wife, Linda, bought merchandise in a T.G. and Y convenience store in Pine Hill, Florida. Robert handed the checkout cashier a $50 bill (Bill No. 1) in payment for the merchandise. The cashier explained that she was unable to change the $50 bill and had to call her supervisor. The supervisor came over to the register and took the $50 bill, whereupon Robert received his change and the merchandise and the couple departed. This is the only one of the bills which Robert was charged with passing. However, as will be discussed under John Paul Ritz' case below, the evidence showed that the three bills, No. 5, 6 and 7, were received by John from Robert, Jr. for work done by John on the automobile of Marilyn Cohen, who testified to the fact that she had paid Robert $400 in $50 bills which she had just withdrawn from the bank the same day.
Linda is Robert, Jr.'s wife. On May 24, she and her mother-in-law, Joan, and Cindy Slagle, a friend of the younger Ritz family members, went in Joan's automobile to Titusville, a neighboring city. Joan Ritz went to a Winn-Dixie store and paid with a $50 bill (Bill No. 2) of the same make, manufacture and serial number as the other bills involved for $43.43 worth of groceries. Linda Ritz was not present on this occasion but it is mentioned as an element of evidence in Linda's case because of the fact that the three women went to Titusville together.
Later the same day, Joan and Linda Ritz and Cindy Slagle went to a Woolco store where Linda handed a clerk a $50 bill (Bill No. 3) in exchange for merchandise. There is no evidence that either Joan or Cindy saw the bill or knew of the method of payment for the merchandise.
Later, Linda and Cindy Slagle went to a Sears store in the same shopping mall and Cindy offered a $50 bill (Bill No. 4) for merchandise which she had picked out. The clerk felt that the bill was thicker and bluer in color than a normal bill and took it to her manager who called the police. The police appeared and questioned the two women concerning the bill but did not arrest them. A few minutes later, however, the police approached the vehicle being driven by Joan and containing Linda and Cindy and asked them to follow them to the police headquarters for further questioning. At the headquarters, Secret Service Agent Connally after adequate cautionary instructions, interviewed the witnesses separately. Joan informed Agent Connally that she had obtained the $50 bill which she passed at Winn-Dixie from Cindy Slagle. Linda informed Connally that Cindy Slagle had given her the $50 bill that she had passed at Woolco.
A week later, Joan and Linda were subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury in Orlando, after having again been given the necessary cautionary instructions. They both testified before the grand jury that they had answered Agent Connally's question falsely as to getting the bills from Cindy because they knew that Cindy had already been found with a bill and they thought that they could end the interviews most quickly that way. They freely confessed that they answered falsely Agent Connally's question. Each said that she had received the bill from her husband, Joan from Robert, Sr., the paterfamilias and both unindicted and unnamed as a co-conspirator, and Linda from Robert, Jr.
There was no evidence that Linda Ritz either saw the $50 bill tendered by Cindy Slagle at the Sears store or knew that it was being used until the clerk questioned its genuineness.
As is indicated under the discussion of the evidence as to Linda, Joan Ritz on May 24, took her daughter-in-law, Linda, and their friend, Cindy Slagle, to Titusville. There Joan went by herself to a Winn-Dixie store and used a $50 bill (Bill No. 2) for what she later testified was $43.43 worth of groceries. Neither other woman was present at the Winn-Dixie store.
Later the same day, as already stated above, Joan and the two younger women then went to a Woolco store where Linda handed a clerk a $50 bill, in exchange for merchandise (Bill No. 3). There is no evidence that Joan saw this bill or knew that such a bill was being used for payment of the merchandise.
Later, Joan was taking Linda and Cindy Slagle home in her automobile when they were stopped by the Titusville police for the questioning which is discussed above.
Three months later, on August 24, John Paul Ritz, the second son of Joan and her husband, Robert Ritz, Sr., together with a girl friend and his younger sister went on a trip to Disney World where they spent the day. He arrived at the amusement park with approximately $170 including the three $50 bills (Bills No. 5, 6 and 7). After obtaining admission tickets for himself and his girl, he had the three bills and a few dollars change. He paid the first of the $50 bills in payment of some women's hats that the female members of the party wanted to buy. The counterfeit nature of the bill was not noticed when he received his change without incident. The party walked around Disney World making various purchases with the change received and he later used one of the two remaining $50 bills to purchase lunch, staying at the restaurant for a couple of hours after paying for the lunch with Bill No. 6, which apparently was not identified as being counterfeit. The luncheon bill was approximately $12. He and his companions also purchased some red balloons which they carried on strings around the amusement park, a fact which counsel suggests clearly indicates an ease of conscience that would not exist if they were afraid of a discovery of the counterfeit and a search for the passers. John Paul paid the last $50 bill for dinner for himself and his girl friend, his younger brother and sister, totalling approximately $20. The party continued sightseeing for several hours at which time he was arrested and taken for questioning. This defendant said that he had received the three $50 bills from his brother, Robert, Jr., the evening before for work he had performed on an automobile belonging to Marilyn Cohen. He testified...
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