United States v. Williams, 12621.
| Decision Date | 18 November 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 12621.,12621. |
| Citation | 271 F.2d 434 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Lucas T. Clarkston, Maurice Scott, Jr., Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.
Robert Tieken, U. S. Atty., John Peter Lulinski, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chicago, Ill., for appellee, Robert N. Johnson, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chicago, Ill., of counsel.
Before DUFFY, SCHNACKENBERG and PARKINSON, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-appellant George Williams was charged originally in a six-count indictment with violations of the narcotic laws. Counts 1, 3 and 5 charged Williams with sales of heroin in violation of Title 26 U.S.C.A. § 4705(a) on September 4, 1958, September 16, 1958 and October 16, 1958, respectively, and Counts 2, 4 and 6 with violations of Title 21 U.S.C.A. § 174 on the same dates, respectively.
Prior to trial Count 5 was dismissed on motion of the Government. Thereupon Count 6 was renumbered 5. Williams, having pleaded not guilty, was tried to a jury on the indictment in five counts. The jury returned a general verdict of "guilty as charged in the indictment", and the District Court imposed a sentence of seven years on the general verdict. This appeal followed.
Williams contends that the verdict is "manifestly against the evidence" as there was not sufficient evidence that the defendant was the person with whom Mattingly dealt in the purchase of the narcotics, and Government's Exhibits 2A, 4A and 6A were improperly admitted into evidence; and that the Trial Court committed prejudicial and reversible error in its examination of witnesses, comments on the evidence and expressions of agreement with statements of the Government's attorney, in failing to correct and admonish the Government's attorney for his alleged improper remarks and in its charge to the jury.
It is settled beyond cavil that a general sentence on a conviction under an indictment in several counts will be upheld if the penalty imposed does not exceed that prescribed for any one count, if that count be good and warrants the judgment, and the evidence sustains the conviction thereon. United States v. Cephas, 7 Cir., 1959, 263 F.2d 518, 519.
The sufficiency of Count 3 is not questioned and the penalty on conviction of a first offender for a violation of Title 26 U.S.C.A. § 4705(a), as charged therein, is a maximum of twenty years imprisonment and a $20,000 fine. The penalty is the same for each of the other four counts of the indictment.
Count 3 charged Williams with a $400 sale of heroin to William Mattingly on or about September 16, 1958. The evidence of the Government was that on September 15 or 16, 1958 William Mattingly, a Federal Narcotics Agent then assigned to the Chicago office, called Williams, with whom Mattingly had previously dealt, at the apartment of Williams' girl friend and made arrangements to purchase three ounces of heroin for the sum of $400; that Williams instructed Mattingly to meet him at 11:30 that night at 47th and Drexel in Chicago; that Mattingly drove to the meeting place with Agent Dino, followed in another automobile by Agents Olexa and Wimpy, and arrived there at approximately 11:30 p.m.; that there Williams, together with another person who remained unidentified, met Mattingly; that Williams told Mattingly to get rid of Agent Dino, which he did; that Williams, the unidentified person and Mattingly then walked to the vicinity of 47th and Lake Park, where Mattingly paid Williams the $400 and received the heroin from another party, previously identified by Williams as "my boy", who walked up to Mattingly and handed it to him in a manila envelope (Government's Exhibit 4A); that Mattingly then went to 49th and Drexel, a predesignated meeting place in case of separation, rejoined Agent Olexa and they went to the Bureau of Narcotics where a field test was made resulting in a positive reaction indicating the purchased substance was an opium derivative; that it was then locked in Mattingly's desk for the night and the following morning Mattingly, in the presence of Agent Olexa, weighed the heroin, sealed Exhibit 4A in another manila envelope and delivered it to Chemist John D. Endriz; that Endriz weighed and analyzed it and found it to be 819 grains of heroin, a derivative of opium; and that the sale of the 819 grains of heroin to William Mattingly for $400 was not made in pursuance of a written order of William Mattingly on a form issued in blank for that purpose by...
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