Patrice Bouchard v. United States

This appeal is from a judgment of conviction after trial to a jury on an information charging violation of 18 U.S. C.A. § 2312, (1948). This court’s jurisdiction is founded upon 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1291 , 1294.

The specification of errors relied upon by appellant is stated in his opening brief to be as follows:

Before considering the specification of errors, we will first summarize the testimony which was before the jury for consideration.

Appellant, a French Canadian, rented a 1964 Dodge from the Hertz Drive-UR-Self Corporation in Quebec City, Canada on December 27, 1963. Athough the car was rented for a period of only one day, appellant drove the Dodge south to Florida and then to California where he was involved in an accident. After attempting unsuccessfully to sell the car to the repairman who was engaged to repair the damage, appellant abandoned it and rented a 1964 Ford automobile from Avis-Rent-A-Car System, Incorporated in San Francisco on February 16, 1964.

The rental agreement signed by appellant was received in evidence. It is dated February 16, 1964 and states that the vehicle will be returned not later than February 17, 1964 to San Francisco and that the vehicle would…