United States v. Turley, 254.

• Decision Date: 19 May 1943
• Docket Number: No. 254.,254.
• Citation: 135 F.2d 867
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. TURLEY et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

135 F.2d 867 (1943)

UNITED STATES v. TURLEY et al.

No. 254.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

May 19, 1943.

Mathias F. Correa, U. S. Atty., of New York City (Robert Roy Dann and Samuel H. Reis, Asst. U. S. Attys., both of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.

Arthur N. Sager, of New York City, for appellant George A. Turley.

Alex Simpson and Thomas F. Tumulty, both of Jersey City, N. J. (Emanuele Trotta, of New York City, of counsel), for appellant Peter W. Burns.

Before AUGUSTUS N. HAND, CHASE, and CLARK, Circuit Judges.

CHASE, Circuit Judge.

George A. Turley, Peter W. Burns and four others were indicted for transporting or causing to be transported in interstate commerce securities theretofore stolen and of a value in excess of $5,000 in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 415. The indictment also contained a count charging conspiracy to violate the above statute contrary to 18 U.S.C.A. § 88. A severance was granted as to one defendant; two others pleaded guilty; and a fourth was convicted with Turley and Burns, but only those two have appealed.

It was discovered sometime in April of 1937 that twenty-five gold notes attached to proofs of claim in the reorganization proceeding of the Minnesota & Ontario Paper Company had been stolen from the files of the United States District Court at Minneapolis, Minn. At the time of the stealing appellant Burns was in the business of obtaining and selling lists of stockholders and was specially interested in lists showing the names of stockholders of companies in the process of reorganization. He operated this business under the name of Bond & Share List Co. at 15 William Street, New York City. Turley, an attorney practicing in New York City, was also interested in obtaining such lists and there was evidence showing that he and Burns had been acquainted since as early as 1935.

Burns and another defendant, Bollenbach, were shown to have been at the United States District Court House in Minneapolis in the latter part of January, 1937; and it was proved that Bollenbach had been there examining the files where the gold notes which were stolen were kept. Burns likewise admitted that he had telephoned Turley in New York while he was en route either to or from Minneapolis; and although he testified that the purpose of his call to Turley was to obtain the address of another Turley in Chicago who dealt in stockholder lists, the jury did not have to believe that but might well have inferred that the conversation was about these gold notes.

Sometime early in February of 1937, Bollenbach returned to New York City, rented an office at 15 East 40th Street under the alias of Berendson, and tried to dispose of ten of the gold notes which had been stolen in Minneapolis. There was evidence that placed Burns in this office at least ten times in the short period Bollenbach used it. Bollenbach's attempt to sell ten of the notes proved unsuccessful when Hart Smith & Co., through whom he tried to make the sale, grew suspicious and stopped payment on its check which had been made out and delivered to Berendson for the bonds and on which there appeared only a typewritten indorsement in that name when Berendson tried to open a checking account by depositing the check in a bank. Thereafter Bollenbach made efforts through another defendant, Jacobson, to effect either the return of the notes or the cashing of the check, but he was unsuccessful.

While these negotiations were going on, Bollenbach, through Turley, disposed of the remaining fifteen notes. This was accomplished with the aid of the defendants Blaser and Ingalls who were called to Turley's office and to whom Turley introduced Bollenbach as "Mr. Brown." At Turley's suggestion a fictitious sale was put through Blaser and Ingalls as though in the regular course of business and made to a "Walter T. Roberts," after which they disposed of the notes through A. E. Ames & Co. on the strength of a letter, brought to them by Bollenbach, which purported to give them authority to make the sale. Blaser than cashed the check of Ames & Co., which was made out to "Roberts," after guaranteeing the indorsement in that name. Ingalls testified that he took the money to Turley's office where some sort of division of it was made. Turley, Burns and Bollenbach were all present. Later, in April of 1937, Turley told Blaser and Ingalls that Burns had stolen the bonds in Minneapolis according to testimony which was admitted against Turley.

There was likewise evidence that Turley and some of the other defendants had been involved in similar transactions for the disposition of securities which had either been stolen or obtained by fraud.

The appellants claim that error was committed in that there was not enough evidence to support the verdict, in that the court committed error in charging the jury, and in that the overt acts alleged and proved left the crime charged still unproved as the statute requires because they occurred after the notes had come to rest in the State of New York and after they had lost their interstate character.

We think for the reasons about to be given, that there was enough evidence for the jury to have found as it did that these appellants either transported, or caused to be transported, in interstate commerce securities which were known to them to have been stolen; and we are also satisfied that the jury was justified in finding that they conspired so to do.

Burns and Bollenbach were both in Minneapolis in January of 1937, and

Burns admitted that he had been in the court house from which the notes were stolen. Bollenbach was not only seen...