Winfield George Mossbrook v. United States

Appellant Mossbrook was convicted after a jury trial in the District Court for the District of Arizona. He was indicted for and convicted of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2312 (transportation of a stolen automobile in interstate commerce knowing it to have been stolen). Mossbrook, 18 years old, was committed to the Youth Correction Division of the Board of Parole. This is an appeal from that conviction, over which this court has jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

On July 16, 1961, an automobile owned by one Jeff Parker was stolen from its parking place in Bay City, Texas. Mr. Parker had locked the doors of the car and had taken the keys with him, but he had neglected to lock the ignition. Thus, the car could be started without the keys and without having to cross the wires. Two days later the appellant, while driving an automobile and accompanied by a hitchhiker, was stopped for a routine inspection by a quarantine inspector of the Arizona Agriculture Department. The inspector apparently became suspicious when Mossbrook was unable to produce the keys to open the trunk of the car, and the inspector notified the sheriff’s department farther up the highway.

A short while later an…