James Luther Tatum v. United States

The appellant, hereinafter designated as the defendant, was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, of violating Section 471 of Title 18, United States Code (counterfeiting). Several alleged errors in the trial of the case are specified by the defendant in this appeal. The only alleged error which we regard as presenting a problem worthy of discussion is the one concerning the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s finding that the defendant was guilty of the specific offense charged in the indictment. The indictment charged that the defendant “did falsely make, forge and counterfeit an obligation and security of the United States, that is, a Federal Reserve note in the sum of $100.00.” At the trial the Government introduced in evidence a counterfeit $100 note as the note which the defendant was charged with manufacturing.

The jury could, from the evidence presented, have believed that the following events occurred. The defendant, a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, stole a printing press and some accessory items from an office in Fresno, California. He transported those objects to his apartment in Las Vegas, and later to the drapery shop…