United States v. Johnson, 72-1031.

• Decision Date: 26 September 1972
• Docket Number: No. 72-1031.,72-1031.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. James Loray JOHNSON, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

466 F.2d 1210 (1972)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. James Loray JOHNSON, Appellant.

No. 72-1031.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted September 15, 1972.

Decided September 26, 1972.

William J. Gerard, St. Louis, Mo., on brief for appellant.

Daniel Bartlett, Jr., U. S. Atty., and David W. Harlan, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., on brief for appellee.

Before MATTHES, Chief Judge, and LAY and HEANEY, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

A jury found appellant guilty of three offenses charged in separate counts:

1. Possessing a United States Treasury check in the amount of $181.70, which had been stolen from and out of the United States mail, knowing the check had been stolen, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708.

2. Falsely uttering and forging the same check by endorsing on the back thereof the name of one of the payees, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 495.

3. Uttering and publishing, with intent to defraud the United States, the same check described in Count I, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 495.

Judgment of conviction was entered and appellant was given concurrent sentences of five years imprisonment on each count.

In this appeal, appellant raises for consideration two basic contentions: (a) failure of investigating federal officers to give proper Miranda warnings Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) before obtaining incriminating statements from appellant; and (b) insufficiency of corroborating evidence independent of appellant's confession to sustain the conviction under Counts I and II. We reject the contentions and affirm.

The uncontradicted evidence shows that on October 8, 1971, appellant attempted to cash a United States Social Security check dated September 29, 1971, in the amount of $181.70, issued in Kansas City, Missouri, to Raymond C. and Margaret Springer, husband and wife, and mailed from Kansas City, Missouri, to the Springers in St. Louis, Missouri. Appellant presented the check to the Brentwood Bank in St. Louis County, Missouri, on October 8, 1971, and attempted to procure cash for the amount of the check. The name of payee, Raymond C. Springer, was endorsed illegibly on the back of the check. Because of suspicious circumstances surrounding the transaction, including the fact that appellant had no account at the Brentwood Bank, the bank employees declined to accept the check. As appellant left the bank, police officers were alerted and shortly thereafter appellant and two other occupants of the automobile were stopped and the subject check was removed from the person of appellant.

On October 12, 1971, the United States Secret Service Agent interviewed appellant. At the outset of the interview the full Miranda warnings contained on SS Form No. 1737 were given to appellant by the agent, who read the warnings in an audible tone. After being so warned, appellant stated that he had received the check from a postal employee named "Arthur" as part of a scheme in which Arthur would purloin checks, appellant would cash them, and the two men would split the proceeds "fifty-fifty." Appellant admitted to the Secret Service Agent that he had forged the name of payee, Raymond C. Springer, had taken...