United States v. Ragland, 8545.

• Decision Date: 21 August 1962
• Docket Number: No. 8545.,8545.
• Citation: 306 F.2d 732
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Carol Lee RAGLAND and Arthur Elwood Williams, Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

306 F.2d 732 (1962)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Carol Lee RAGLAND and Arthur Elwood Williams, Appellants.

No. 8545.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued May 29, 1962.

Decided August 21, 1962.

R. R. Ryder, Richmond, Va. (Martin & Ryder, Richmond, Va., on the brief) for appellants.

Arthur G. Murphy, Asst. U. S. Atty. (Joseph D. Tydings, U. S. Atty., and J. Edward Davis, Asst. U. S. Atty., on the brief), for appellee.

Before BOREMAN and J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judges, and BARKSDALE, District Judge.

BARKSDALE, District Judge.

On January 5, 1962, pursuant to a jury's verdict of guilty, a judgment of conviction was entered against Carol Lee Ragland, Arthur Elwood Williams and Charles Royland Liskie of conspiracy to possess sugar intended to be used in the production of distilled spirits (18 U.S. C.A. § 371; 26 U.S.C.A. § 5686(a)), and of the substantive offense of unlawful possession of sugar intended for use in violating the internal revenue laws of the United States (26 U.S.C.A. § 5686 (a); 18 U.S.C.A. § 2), and prison sentences were imposed. From this judgment of conviction, Ragland and Williams have prosecuted this appeal, and the sole question before this court is whether or not the evidence was sufficient to justify their conviction. The conspiracy count originally included three others, one of whom died before the trial, and the two others, Robert Victor Somers and Charles Howard Simpson, entered pleas of guilty. The substantive count included two others, one of whom had died before the trial, and the other one, Somers, also entered a plea of guilty to that count. The appellants, Ragland and Williams, and the other defendant, Liskie, entered pleas of not guilty and were tried jointly. Neither one of the three testified or introduced any testimony in his own behalf. Somers, who had pled guilty, testified for the Government. Since the jury found the defendants guilty, the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the Government.

Bearing that principle in mind, the facts which the jury might properly have found, may be briefly stated as follows:

In October 1960, defendant, Robert Victor Somers (who pled guilty and testified for the Government), and defendant, Richard D. Victor III (who died before trial), met in Pittsburgh, by pre-arrangement, and agreed that Somers would go to work for Victor. Victor explained to Somers that he was doing business under the name of Alleghany Food Products Company and that he was engaged in the purchase and sale of sugar in Baltimore. It was agreed that Somers would come to Baltimore and look after purchases and sales of sugar there. Victor told Somers "that Alleghany Food Products Corporation was a nonexisting corporation, that it was merely a name, and a front that would be used so that we could legally purchase sugar." Victor further told Somers that he should establish an office or a residence in Baltimore, and "periodically he would contact me and let me know when men were coming in from different areas with trucks to pick up the sugar". Somers was instructed that when men came to him to purchase sugar, he was to take their money and purchase American Express Company money orders, then go to the Canton Railroad Docks, present the money and get purchase orders for the sugar and permit the men to load it. Victor did not tell Somers specifically who the men were who would come to Baltimore to purchase sugar, but told him that they were going to be selling it to bootleggers.

On November 14, 1960, pursuant to this arrangement, Victor came to Baltimore, and put up with Somers at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, where they spent the night. The next morning, they went to a lunch room located on the property of the Canton Railroad Yard, and there met defendants Ragland, Williams and Liskie. After a conversation in the lunch room, in which Somers took no part, Victor, Somers, together with Ragland, Williams and Liskie, traveled by cab to the American Express Company office. On the way there was a general conversation about purchasing the sugar and Williams handed a roll of money to Victor. All of them went into the office of the American Express Company and Victor purchased two money orders in the sum of approximately $1,350.00 each. From there, they returned to the Canton Railroad Yard, and Victor and Somers went into the office and presented the money orders to an employee, who, in turn, gave them purchase orders for the sugar. One of the purchase orders was used for the purchase of 15,000 pounds of sugar, which was promptly loaded on a truck operated by Liskie, who signed the receipt for the sugar. This truck carried Virginia license plates and was registered in the name of one Benny Goens of Hanover, Va. During the loading of the sugar on the truck, Williams and Ragland waited in, or near, a blue Ford automobile bearing Virginia license plates, which belonged to Ragland, parked on the Canton Railroad property. From time to time, Williams and Ragland were seen to observe the loading of the sugar, although they took no active part in it. As soon as the truck had been loaded, Liskie drove it away, and Williams and Ragland followed the truck in the blue Ford, keeping as closely behind it as they could "without bumping" it.

Having been previously alerted, an officer of the Maryland State Police, observed the truck operated by Liskie and the blue Ford operated by Williams, Ragland riding on the front seat with him. The officer followed the truck and Ford for approximately three-fourths of a mile, and observed that the Ford closely followed the truck, keeping only the length of a car, or a car and a half, behind it. The officer stopped the truck and Ford car near Laurel, Md., and took both vehicles with their occupants to the Maryland State Police Barracks nearby. There it was noted that the truck was carrying a load of 15,000 pounds of sugar, and that the Ford car carried unusual equipment. It was equipped with heavy-load springs, a large heavy-duty coil spring with a center shock absorber on the rear axle designed to allow the car to ride level while carrying a heavy load, the arm rests adjacent to the rear seat had been removed and a switch had been installed under the cowl which operated to turn off all rear lights of the vehicle while leaving the front lights on. In the glove compartment of the Ford, were two publications of the Internal Revenue Service designed to warn sellers of sugar of its use in the manufacture of illicit liquor.

Upon being questioned, neither Ragland nor Williams gave any explanation of why they had come from Virginia to Baltimore to purchase sugar, gave no explanation of the unusual equipment on the Ford automobile, no explanation of their presence at the time of the loading of the sugar on the truck, no suggestion of any legitimate reason for the purchase of such a large quantity of sugar, nor why they were following the truck so closely. Ragland, Williams and Liskie were taken into custody by an agent of the Alcohol Tax Unit, and in due time their trial and conviction followed.

To justify the jury's verdict of guilty, on both the conspiracy count and the substantive offense count, it was necessary that the Government's evidence prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants acted in concert pursuant to a common understanding, that one or more of the overt acts charged were committed, that the defendants possessed the 15,000 pounds of sugar, and that the sugar was intended for use in violation of the internal revenue laws of the United States. The Government relied on circumstantial evidence, which type of evidence is, of course, sufficient to support the verdict, although it does not exclude every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence. Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 139, 75 S.Ct. 127, 99 L.Ed. 150; Moore v. United States, 4 Cir. (1959), 271 F.2d 564, 568. There does not seem to be any doubt that the defendants entered into an informal, verbal agreement and understanding to acquire and possess the sugar. Several of the overt acts charged were clearly proven. Nor does there seem to us to be any serious question that the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Liskie, Ragland and Williams possessed the sugar. Liskie took actual possession of the sugar when it was loaded on the truck operated by him, and he receipted for it. Ragland and Williams...