United States v. Jiminez-Serrato
| Decision Date | 18 November 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-1611 Summary Calendar.,71-1611 Summary Calendar. |
| Citation | 451 F.2d 523 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Francisco Javier JIMINEZ-SERRATO, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Carlos B. Fernandez, Miami, Fla. (Court appointed), for defendant-appellant.
Robert W. Rust, U. S. Atty., Harold F. Keefe, Miami, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before JOHN R. BROWN, Chief Judge, and INGRAHAM and RONEY, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a criminal prosecution for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472.
"Whoever, with intent to defraud, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or with like intent brings into the United States or keeps in possession or or conceals any falsely made, forged, counterfeited, or altered obligation or other security of the United States, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both."
Defendant was convicted by a judge sitting without a jury under Rule 23(c), F.R.Cir.P. and "waived" any making of special findings of fact. The prosecution's evidence produced at trial consisted solely of the testimony of Secret Service Agents Louis Cruz and Arthur Rivers.
Agent Cruz testified that he had met with defendant Serrato while undercover on a secret service mission in Bogota, Columbia; that at the meeting defendant had offered to supply him with some counterfeit bills, but that when the bills were to have been delivered the defendant failed to appear.
Agent Rivers testified that a confidential informant arrived in his office at 9:00 A.M., November 30, 1970, and surrendered to him a counterfeit $100 bill and six $50 bills; that he marked the bills and at 12:45 P.M. that day he and several other secret service agents, in the company of the informant, went to a hotel where the informant was scheduled to meet with the defendant. He testified further that the informant was instructed to present a closed envelope containing the bogus bills and state that he had attempted to pass the currency, but that the counterfeits were not passable; that the informant waited while the secret service "staked out" the lobby of the hotel and that he then entered the lobby; that the informant then went up to the defendant and after a conversation of 3 or 4 minutes handed the envelope to the defendant. The conversation continued for several more minutes and then, on pre-arranged signal, the secret service moved and arrested the defendant.
Defendant moved the court for a judgment of acquittal on the grounds that the offense charged under 18 U.S.C. § 472 required proof of knowledge or willfulness, and that the Government had failed to prove this element of the offense. The court, however, overruled this motion, taking the testimony of Agent Cruz to have established, at least circumstantially, that defendant had knowledge that the bills were counterfeit.
Defendant then testified in his own behalf that he had entered the United States lawfully and had met the informant through a man he had known for 10 years, and that he had entrusted to the informant a ring which he valued at $550. He testified that the informant took the ring, either to buy it on his own account or to sell it for the defendant. He further testified that the informant had agreed to meet with him in the lobby of the hotel, and at that meeting he had expected that the informant would give him some information about the sale of the ring. He stated that the informant told him: "Take this and then later we will talk." He accepted the proffered envelope and stuck it in his coat pocket. He testified that he never looked into the contents of the envelope. A few minutes later he was arrested by the Secret Service and found with the marked counterfeit bills in his possession.
Defendant, in his sole point of argument on appeal, asks whether knowledge, intent and concealment were sufficiently proven by the Government. In essence, he asks this court to rule on the denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal. In such an appeal it is, of course, true that we must sustain the verdict of guilty if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government to support it. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1944). "Substantial evidence" in this context means evidence that a reasonably minded jury—or judge in a non-jury trial—could accept as adequate and sufficient to support the conclusion of defendant's...
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U.S. v. Diaz
...production of the informer are required to ensure a fair trial. Examples of such cases in this circuit include United States v. Jiminez-Serrato, 451 F.2d 523, 526 (5th Cir. 1971) (informer was the only participant in transaction who could establish defendant's mens rea); Portomene v. United......
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U.S. v. Varella
...transaction, then disclosure and production of the informer are required to ensure a fair trial. See, e.g., United States v. Jiminez-Serrato, 451 F.2d 523, 526 (5th Cir.1971) (informer was the only participant in transaction who could establish defendant's mens rea). And, in cases where the......
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U.S. v. Slone, 78-5729
...U.S. ----, 99 S.Ct. 3102, 61 L.Ed.2d 876 (1979); United States v. Haggins, 5 Cir., 1977, 545 F.2d 1009, 1013; United States v. Jiminez-Serrato, 5 Cir., 1971, 451 F.2d 523, 525 (possession); Paz v. United States, 5 Cir., 1967, 387 F.2d 428, 430 On the other hand, the necessary "guilty knowle......
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U.S. v. Sink
...part of the actor to defraud. 18 U.S.C.A. § 472. Proof of the mere fact of passing or possessing is insufficient. United States v. Jiminez-Serrato, 451 F.2d 523 (5th Cir. 1971); Paz v. United States, 387 F.2d 428 (5th Cir. 1967). But surrounding circumstances often supply inferences of know......