United States v. Forrest, Misc. No. 254.

• Decision Date: 20 December 1946
• Docket Number: Misc. No. 254.
• Citation: 69 F. Supp. 389
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. FORREST.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

69 F. Supp. 389

UNITED STATES v. FORREST.

Misc. No. 254.

District Court, D. Rhode Island.

December 20, 1946.

George F. Troy, U. S. Atty., and Edward M. McEntee, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of Providence, R. I., for plaintiff.

William B. Sweeney, and Everett D. Higgins, both of Providence, R. I., for defendant.

HARTIGAN, District Judge.

This is a petition in which the government prays that the certificate of citizenship issued to Bernard Forrest be set aside and cancelled.

Bernard Forrest, a native of Canada and former subject of Great Britain, on May 7, 1940, filed a petition for naturalization No. 3569 at Miami, Florida, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which petition was granted and he was admitted to citizenship by said district court on November 12, 1940, and Certificate of Naturalization No. 4857743 was issued to him.

The government alleges that said certificate was fraudulently and illegally procured by the respondent in violation of the Nationality Code of 1940, Title 8 U.S.C.A. §§ 707, 709 and 712, for the following reasons: (a) That Forrest testified under oath during a preliminary hearing conducted by a United States Naturalization Examiner on October 23, 1940, that he was married in Putnam, Connecticut, on August 22, 1934, to his wife Catherine, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and who is a citizen of the United States by birth and that Forrest in support of said statement exhibited a copy of his wife's birth certificate and certificate of marriage; when in truth and fact Forrest was divorced from his wife on the date of said hearing; (b) that the respondent under oath at said hearing testified he was never arrested or prosecuted on or about April 12, 1921, for stealing a package containing $4500 from a post office in St. Lin, Canada; (c) that on March 31, 1938, Forrest registered as a qualified voter in Miami, Florida, and stated under oath that he was a native of Rhode Island when in truth and fact he was not a native of Rhode Island and was not on said date a citizen of the United States; and (d) that Forrest represented in his said petition for naturalization that he was a person of good moral character during the period required by law prior to his admission to citizenship, when in truth and fact he did not behave as a person of good moral character during said period.

A naturalization examiner testified that on October 22, 1940, he conducted a preliminary hearing and examined Forrest under oath on all material matters pertaining to his petition for naturalization and that he asked Forrest if he was divorced and that Forrest answered "No".

The government offered in evidence the final decree of divorce, Exhibit 1, issued in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, in and for Dade County, in Chancery Sitting, No. 64646, entitled "Bernard Forrest, Plaintiff v. Catherine W. Forrest, Defendant." Said final decree of divorce was entered September 11, 1940.

Forrest admitted his divorce and that it had not been set aside. He also admitted that he had not been living with his wife since September 11, 1940.

In support of (c) the government offered in evidence Exhibit 2, the certificate of the Supervisor of Registration in and for Dade County, State of Florida, which certified that "the attached photostat is a true and correct copy of the registration of Bernard Forrest who registered to vote in Precinct No. 10 of Dade County Registration Books, on March 31, 1938, Certificate No. 2268, giving his address as 10306 N. W. Miami Avenue, his age as thirty-five, and his birth place as Rhode Island. I further certify that the above statements made by him were sworn to under oath."

At the top of the Official Register of Electors, which Forrest admitted signing, there appears in plain type the following:

"Oath to be Taken by Each Person Before Being Registered

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Florida; that I am twenty-one years of age, and have been a resident of the State of Florida for twelve months, and of this County for six months; that I am a citizen of the United States, and that I am qualified to vote under the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida."

Forrest testified that when he registered he was not asked if he was a citizen of the United States or where he was born. In explanation of the answer as to his "Nativity" he testified that the election official asked him where he came from and he said "Rhode Island."

He testified that he had been told that he had a right to vote because he owned real estate in Florida and that after registering he sought legal advice and was told he had no such right and that he did nothing to have his name stricken from the Official Register of Electors.

Forrest's testimony relative to his registration and his divorce did not impress me. He is a college graduate. I can come to no other conclusion than that he knowingly swore falsely when he registered to vote and also when he testified before the naturalization examiner relative to his divorce.

Such false statements convince me that Forrest was not a person of good moral character during the period required...