John L. Perkins v. United States

On this appeal, the sole question presented is whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict of conviction. The charge is that appellant Perkins and one Johnson stole a letter from an authorized depository for mail.

Stated most favorably to the government, the evidence shows that the government caused a letter, which had the appearance of the envelope in which the ' government commonly mails its checks, to be addressed and mailed to the apartment of a Mrs. Flinn at 790 West 5th Street, San Pedro, California. The entrance to the apartment was “staked out” by postal inspectors in automobiles so situated that the occupants, with the use of field glasses, could observe Mrs. Flinn’s mail box. In the morning they saw an envelope, resembling the one that had been mailed, in her mail box. It protruded from the top in such a way as to be visible. During the morning, they also observed a pink Cadillac car, occupied by one or more men, drive slowly past the apartment several times. The district was residential and the traffic was not heavy. Early in the afternoon, the Cadillac stopped not far from the apartment and Perkins and Johnson alighted from the vehicle which then…