LAW.coLAW.co

UNITED STATES v. MURA

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit1951-10-23No. No. 71, Docket 22126
191 F.2d 886

Summary

Holding. The judgment of conviction is affirmed. The trial court's jury instructions, evidentiary rulings, and comments on witness credibility did not violate Mura's right to a fair trial, and the evidence amply supported the jury's guilty verdict on all counts.

Mura and Kramer were indicted for transporting two stolen vehicles from New York to New Jersey, and all four defendants were charged with conspiracy to transport stolen cars for resale. Three defendants pleaded guilty, but Mura proceeded to trial, denying involvement while the government presented evidence that the vehicles had been stolen and transported across state lines. The jury found Mura guilty on all counts.

Mura challenged his conviction on several grounds, claiming the judge improperly directed a guilty verdict through jury instructions, unfairly commented on witness credibility, and allowed inadmissible evidence. The appellate court rejected each claim, finding that the judge's reference to stolen cars crossing the border was merely describing established facts, not directing guilt; that commenting on accomplice testimony credibility was within proper judicial discretion; and that other trial procedures complied with applicable law.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether jury instructions characterizing government evidence constituted a directed verdict of guilty
  • Whether judicial comments on an accomplice-witness's credibility improperly prejudiced the defendant
  • Whether admission of bills of sale as evidence bearing on witness recollection was proper
  • Whether trial procedures and statutory charging instructions were adequate

Procedural posture

Mura appealed his jury conviction for transporting stolen motor vehicles across state lines and conspiracy to do so.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM.

Count one of the indictment charged Mura and Kramer with transporting a Mercury coupe from the City of New York to Jersey City, New Jersey, knowing it to have been stolen. Count two charged Mura and Kramer with transporting an Oldsmobile from the City of New York to Jersey City, New Jersey, knowing it to have been stolen. The fifth count charged Mura, Kramer, Pollack and Teutschenbach with conspiring to transport motor vehicles knowing them to have been stolen from. New York City to Jersey City with the purpose of selling and disposing of them, and alleged various overt acts performed by them or some of them in the course of the conspiracy.

Pollack testified that he received from Mura and Kramer in New Jersey the cars mentioned in the first two counts and that he paid them therefor. Kramer testified without however identifying the particular cars mentioned in counts one and two that he drove one or two cars from New York to Jersey City in company with Mura, claiming, however, that those particular cars were not stolen. There was also testimony that Mura, Kramer, Pollack and Teutschenbach had previously met in New York City and agreed to sell and deliver stolen cars in New Jersey. Under the circumstances there would seem to be no doubt, in view of the ample proof that the cars covered by the indictment had actually been stolen from the true owners, that the convictions were supported by the evidence. Kramer, Teutschenbach and Pollack all pleaded guilty. Mura, while denying that he had transported or that he had conspired to transport stolen cars, denials which the jury did not credit, claimed that he did not have a fair trial because the court charged: “The automobiles that the Government believes have been identified all crossed the border between New York and New Jersey * * *” Such a charge Mura says was equivalent to directing a verdict of guilty against him. But the judge nowhere told the jury that Mura transported the cars, or caused them to be transported or conspired with the others to that effect. The evidence was entirely conclusive that cars stolen in New York crossed the border between New York and New Jersey, and that was what the judge referred to in his charge. The question of Mura’s guilt under any of the counts decided against him was left to the jury under a perfectly impartial charge.

Appellants contention that the judge was unfair in commenting on the lack of credibility of Kramer’s testimony is without merit. He had a perfect right to do this under settled rules and indeed could hardly have prejudiced the jury when his comments were in the midst of a warning that any incriminating testimony of an accomplice should be received with careful scrutiny.

The court allowed the jury to refer to alleged forged bills of sale not as substantive proof but as bearing on the recollection of Pollack who had testified as to the identity of cars alleged to have been stolen. The further claims that the judge improperly interrupted the appellant’s attorney and showed approval of some of the conduct of the counsel for the Government and that he did not sufficiently charge the jury as to the statutes involved are equally without merit. The issues seem to us to have been clearly presented without reading the text pf the statutes and the verdict to have been fully warranted. Accordingly the judgment is

Affirmed.