Yarbrough v. United States, 7103.
| Decision Date | 29 November 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 7103.,7103. |
| Citation | 309 F.2d 936 |
| Parties | James Donald YARBROUGH, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Robert S. Slosky, Denver, Colo., for appellant.
Michael C. Villano, Asst. U. S. Atty., Denver, Colo. (Lawrence M. Henry, U. S. Atty., Denver, Colo., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before PICKETT, BREITENSTEIN and HILL, Circuit Judges.
The appellant, Yarbrough, was convicted on an indictment which charged that, having been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, he transported in interstate commerce firearms and ammunition in violation of 15 U.S.C.A. § 902(e),1 and he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of three years. At the close of the prosecution's case Yarbrough moved for a judgment of acquittal upon the ground that the prosecution had failed to prove the essential elements of the crime except by the uncorroborated confession of the accused. The question presented is whether there was sufficient corroboration of Yarbrough's post-arrest confession and admissions to sustain the conviction. We hold that the corroborating evidence was insufficient.
Yarbrough, who had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, was arrested by a highway patrolman in northwestern Colorado while driving an automobile with Oregon license plates. Found in his possession were a .32 caliber pistol, a .38 caliber pistol, and a quantity of ammunition. After his arrest Yarbrough confessed to a Colorado highway patrolman and to an F. B.I. agent that he had driven the automobile from Utah into Colorado, and had transported the guns and ammunition from Utah to Colorado. He stated to the F.B.I. agent that he had won the .38 caliber pistol on a punchboard at a motel in Utah, but was not certain of the place. He said that he had acquired a postcard while at the motel on which there was a picture of the establishment, and that this postcard was still in the automobile. The agent found an unused postcard in the glove compartment of the car which appeared to be an advertisement of a motel at Fruitland, Utah. This is the extent of the corroborating evidence as to the interstate transportation of the firearms and ammunition.
The law is well settled that a criminal conviction cannot be sustained when the offense is proven solely by the uncorroborated extra-judicial confession or admissions of the accused. It is necessary that such extra-judicial statements establishing essential elements of the crime charged be corroborated by evidence independent of the confession or admissions. The prosecution, in addition to the confession or admissions, must produce substantial independent evidence of the essential elements of the crime charged which will tend to establish the trustworthiness of the statements made by the accused. Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84, 75 S.Ct. 158, 99 L.Ed. 101;2 Smith v. United States, 348 U.S. 147, 75 S.Ct. 194, 99 L.Ed. 192; Kelly v. United States, 10 Cir., 246 F. 2d 864; Braswell v. United States, 10 Cir., 224 F.2d 706,...
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Naples v. United States
...357 U.S. 219, 78 S.Ct. 1365, 2 L.Ed.2d 1361 (1958); Fisher v. United States, 324 F.2d 775, 780 (8th Cir. 1963); Yarbrough v. United States, 309 F.2d 936 (10th Cir. 1962); Sells v. United States. 262 F.2d 815 (10th Cir. 1959); French v. United States, 232 F.2d 736, 741 (5th Cir. 1956) (concu......
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United States v. Davis
...is a sufficient constitutional criterion for the admissibility of confessions, providing that the commands of Yarbrough v. United States, 309 F.2d 936 (10th Cir.1962) are met. There this court "The law is well settled that a criminal conviction cannot be sustained when the offense is proven......
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Landsdown v. United States
...113 U.S. App.D.C. 136, 306 F.2d 743. 5 The presence of this evidence distinguishes this case from such cases as Yarbrough v. United States, 10th Cir. 1962, 309 F.2d 936 and Kelly v. United States, 10th Cir. 1957, 246 F.2d 864, cited by Landsdown, in which there was little or no independent ......
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Dennis v. United States, 7621-7626.
...or admissions are insufficient to prove guilt. See Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84, 75 S.Ct. 158, 99 L.Ed. 101; Yarbrough v. United States, 10 Cir., 309 F.2d 936; Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441; Annotation 45 A.L.R.2d 1317; Krulewitch v. United Stat......