United States v. Sierra

• Citation: 452 F.2d 291
• Decision Date: 23 December 1971
• Docket Number: No. 71-1201.,71-1201.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Louis Samuel SIERRA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)

452 F.2d 291 (1971)

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Louis Samuel SIERRA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 71-1201.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

December 23, 1971.

Mark C. Meiering, Asst. U. S. Atty. (Victor R. Ortega, U. S. Atty., and Ronald A. Ginsburg, Asst. U. S. Atty., on the brief), for plaintiff-appellee.

J. Stephen Gammill, Albuquerque, N. M., for defendant-appellant.

Before BREITENSTEIN, McWILLIAMS and DOYLE, Circuit Judges.

McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Louis Samuel Sierra was convicted by a jury of the crime of kidnapping as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1201. Specifically, Sierra and Michael Anthony Corriz were charged in the indictment with knowingly transporting in interstate commerce from Raton, New Mexico, to a point near Hoehne, Colorado, one Albert Franklin Hill, "a person whom the defendants had unlawfully seized, abducted, carried away and held for the purpose of aiding their escape from custody." The charge against Corriz was otherwise disposed of, and, as indicated, Sierra's trial by jury resulted in a guilty as charged verdict. Sierra now appeals.

The only issue raised on appeal relates to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict. It is agreed that Sierra, Corriz and one Joe Salazar, all inmates of the county jail in Raton, New Mexico, escaped from jail by overpowering a trusty and a radio operator at knifepoint at about five o'clock in the evening. About ten o'clock the same evening the three attempted to force and compel, again at knifepoint, one Raymond Luksich to drive them in his car across the state line to the Trinidad, Colorado, area, where Hoehne is located. Luksich, however, foiled their efforts by "rolling out" of his car at a filling station in Raton where they had stopped to buy gas.

At about eleven o'clock the same evening, the three went to the home of Albert Franklin Hill in Raton, where they had been earlier in the evening immediately following their escape from the jail. They were apparently drawn to the Hill home by the fact that one Libby Bueno also resided there, she being a friend of Corriz. None of the three, however, had any prior acquaintance with Hill.

As indicated, the foregoing is not in dispute, and the dispute centers around the events in the Hill home. Upon trial, the real issue, which of course went to the heart of the case, was whether Hill was forcibly and by threats seized, abducted and knowingly transported by Sierra and Corriz in interstate commerce from Raton, New Mexico, to the Trinidad, Colorado, area or, on the contrary, whether Hill voluntarily aided and abetted Sierra and Corriz in effecting their escape by driving with them in his truck from Raton to the Trinidad area.

The evidence disclosed that the three got lost while driving in Colorado near Trinidad, and that Sierra and Corriz then decided to return to Raton. Upon reaching Raton, Sierra left the vehicle and voluntarily returned to the jail from which he had escaped. Corriz and Hill then drove eastward towards Clayton, New Mexico, and while en route the truck came to a halt because of mechanical difficulties. Corriz then left on foot and Hill was later found by state police. Salazar, incidentally, did not go on the ride to Trinidad, but remained in the Hill house with Libby Bueno. It was in this general state of the record that the jury found Sierra guilty of kidnapping.

Our study of Hill's testimony leads us to conclude that the Government did make a prima facie...