Eugene Dickey Church v. United States

This appeal follows a trial in which a jury found the appellant guilty of a misdemeanor: theft of a .45 caliber pistol belonging to the United States, 18 U.S.C. § 641 . The appellant advances numerous contentions, none of which we can accept.

In July of 1967, Church, a Marine then attached to the Kaneohe Marine Corps Station in Hawaii but who has since been serving our Country in Vietnam, received a furlough. Soon after leaving his base to visit relatives in Florida, his officers discovered that a pistol was missing. Their suspicion quickly focused upon Church. The Marine authorities notified the Honolulu office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which, in turn, contacted agents in Florida. The latter quickly recovered the missing weapon, and Church gave them a statement in which he admitted taking the pistol from his Hawaiian station. He was then arrested and charged, by complaint, with the federal offense of having retained stolen United States property. 18 U.S.C. § 641 . Before his arraignment in the United States District Court in Florida, the Florida federal authorities decided not to prosecute, dismissed their complaint, and allowed Church to return to Hawaii before…