United States v. Kenny

• Decision Date: 10 July 1956
• Docket Number: No. 11767.,11767.
• Citation: 236 F.2d 128
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Bernard F. KENNY, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

236 F.2d 128 (1956)

UNITED STATES of America v. Bernard F. KENNY, Appellant.

No. 11767.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Argued April 16, 1956.

Decided July 10, 1956.

Writ of Certiorari Denied November 5, 1956.

Martin D. Moroney, Newark, N. J. (Maurice C. Brigadier, Seymour Margulies, Jersey City, N. J., on the brief), for appellant.

Pierre P. Garven, Asst. U. S. Atty., Newark, N. J. (Raymond Del Tufo, Jr., U. S. Atty., Newark, N. J., George J. Rossi, Asst. U. S. Atty., Jersey City, N. J., on the brief), for the United States.

Before GOODRICH, KALODNER and HASTIE, Circuit Judges.

Writ of Certiorari Denied November 5, 1956. See 77 S.Ct. 133.

HASTIE, Circuit Judge.

Appellant, Bernard F. Kenny, the executive officer of a New Jersey municipal housing and redevelopment agency has been convicted of violating Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code in that he willfully and by artifice concealed the material fact of his private interest in certain government contracts, this being done in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Housing and Home Finance Agency. Section 1001, under which both this and a relevant companion indictment against Kenny were drawn, provides as follows:

"Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

The present indictment, No. 273-54, named Kenny as sole defendant and charged that in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, defendant willfully and unlawfully concealed the fact that he, while serving as executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority, had a private interest in two certain contracts, dated July 2, 1951, between the Authority and the architectural firm of Mascolo and Masumian, through a secret relationship of undisclosed partner in the said firm.

A companion indictment, No. 274-54, charged that Kenny, Mascolo, Masumian and Comparetto, as partners in the firm of Mascolo and Masumian, did, in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, knowingly, willfully and unlawfully on four separate occasions between October 5, 1951 and January 15, 1952, make false material statements in affidavits supporting certain vouchers submitted by the firm as claims for services rendered under the above mentioned contracts. In each affidavit one of the partners stated on behalf of the firm that no employee of the local agency had any interest, direct or indirect, in the claims presented, whereas it is alleged the defendants well knew the statements to be false in that they knew Bernard F. Kenny was an employee of the local agency and had an interest in the claims.

The two indictments were tried together. The jury acquitted all defendants of the charge in No. 274-54, but could not reach an agreement on No. 273-54. A second trial on the latter indictment resulted in a jury verdict of guilty. Judgment was entered thereon and this appeal followed.

Appellant first urges that the alleged wrongdoing did not occur in a "matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States", within the meaning of Section 1001 of Title 18. He points out that the Housing and Home Finance Agency merely loaned money to the municipal agency and that, thereafter, it was his interest in a municipal rather than a federal contract which he is said to have concealed. But the Housing and Home Finance Agency was intimately connected with and substantively interested in the contracting by the local agency. On behalf of the United States it had advanced the entire sum required to finance the project planning of which these contracts were a part. And after this planning should be completed the federal government would be committed to the making of grants to cover two-thirds of the entire cost of the project. Moreover, in advancing funds for planning, Housing and Home Finance Agency required that all contracts proposed by the local agency for services and materials be cleared by it.

More directly bearing on the wrongdoing here charged, the loan contract contained the following provision:

"* * * nor shall any such member or other officer, agent, servant or employee of the Local Private Agency have any private interest, direct or indirect in any contract for property, materials, supplies, equipment or services to be acquired by the Local Public Agency in the undertaking of the Surveying and Planning work; * *."

This contractual requirement was a legitimate method of vindicating the interest of the federal agency in the integrity of transactions it was financing. Any failure to respect this obligation was certainly a matter within the jurisdiction of the federal agency. Thus, Kenny acted in a context covered by Section 1001 of Title 18. Cf. Nye and Nissen v. United States, 9 Cir., 1948, 168 F.2d 846; affirmed 1949, 336 U.S. 613, 69 S.Ct. 766, 93 L.Ed. 919; United States v. Ganz, D.C.Mass.1942, 48 F. Supp. 323.

Appellant's next contention is that his acquittal on the trial of indictment No. 274-54 is a complete bar to further proceedings on indictment No. 273-54. The parties are not in dispute as to the controlling principle of res judicata in criminal cases. Where the state charges an accused with two related offenses, an acquittal of one precludes subsequent prosecution on the other, if that acquittal was the result of decision in favor of the defendant on an issue which would be essential to the case against him on the second...