Thomas Patrick Keegan v. United States

Keegan appeals from a judgment whereby he was sentenced following the verdict of a jury convicting him of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2312 , transporting a stolen vehicle in interstate commerce, knowing that it was stolen.

The evidence, stated most favorably to the government (Keegan offered none), is as follows: On August 14,1966, Gary Barilla, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had left his car, a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville, brown with white vinyl top, Pennsylvania license No. 61286R, serial No. 262376 P 236853 , in a parking lot adjacent to the apartment house where he lived. He last saw it at 1:00 A.M. on August 14. At 10:00 A.M., the car was gone. No one had his permission to use it. In the glove compartment was a wallet containing a number of cards, including particularly a Credit Card, exhibit lc, issued by the Pittsburgh National Bank. Keegan was at the apartment of a friend in Pittsburgh, about 10 minutes driving time from the borough where Barilla lived, on August 13 and 14. He left the friend’s apartment late in the evening of the 13th, returned at about 4:00 A.M. on the 14th, and then departed.

On September 30,1966, Keegan arrived at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He…