United States v. Archer, 71-1040
| Decision Date | 09 November 1971 |
| Docket Number | 71-1315.,No. 71-1040,71-1040 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Ronald Earl ARCHER, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. James John BYRNES, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Bruce C. Houdek, Public Defender for the Western District of Missouri, Kansas City, Mo., for appellant, Archer.
Lee E. Wells, Kansas City, Mo., for appellant, Byrnes.
Paul Anthony White, Asst. U. S. Atty., Bert C. Hurn, U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., for appellee.
Before LAY, HEANEY and STEPHENSON, Circuit Judges.
Defendants Ronald Earl Archer and James John Byrnes were convicted in separate trials arising out of kidnapping charges in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1201(a). They filed separate appeals, consolidated for argument in this court. We affirm both convictions.
Defendant Archer urges that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain his conviction under the two count indictment. He also urges that he was denied a fair trial by reason of prejudicial comment by the prosecutor in closing argument. Defendant Byrnes asserts only that the court erred in failing to grant an acquittal because the government did not rebut his defense of insanity.
Evidence showed that on September 26, 1969, both defendants escaped from the Stafford County jail in St. John, Kansas. They stole a car in Kansas and eventually drove to Hardy, Arkansas. Byrnes, accompanied by Archer, accosted Reverend Garry Lynn Martin in Hardy and ordered him at gunpoint to drive the two escapees to Missouri. At the airport in West Plains, Missouri, Byrnes chartered a plane. While Byrnes was renting the plane defendant Archer held the gun on Reverend Martin in the car. The evidence showed that the three men were flown to Kansas City, Missouri. Shortly before landing Byrnes became concerned over being apprehended and ordered the pilot, Charles Hopkins, to fly them to Hiawatha, Kansas. Bad weather changed the route again, forcing them to fly to Lamoni, Iowa, and subsequently to Des Moines, Iowa. There Byrnes and Archer left both victims unharmed.
In the first count Archer was found guilty of kidnapping Charles Hopkins and transporting him from Kansas City, Missouri, to Des Moines, Iowa. In the second count, he was found guilty of kidnapping and taking Reverend Martin from Hardy, Arkansas, to West Plains, Missouri, by automobile and then to Des Moines by airplane. Archer contends that there was no evidence that he participated in either crime and that his mere presence during these events was insufficient proof of his guilt.
We find the evidence sufficiently strong to demonstrate that Byrnes' initiatives were not opposed but rather condoned and adopted by Archer in effecting the double kidnapping. While it is true that mere association with one engaged in a crime is not sufficient to establish guilt, a person's prolonged presence when accompanied with a culpable purpose in being there (e. g. holding a gun on one of the victims) may suffice for the government's proof. Cf. United States v. Kelton, 446 F.2d 669 (8 Cir. 1971). Here Archer's presence facilitated the unlawful conduct of Byrnes by his collaboration in carrying out these kidnappings. The overall record convinces us that no other conclusion is tenable.
Archer's complaint as to the...
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