United States v. Robert Mark Howey

Howey appeals from his conviction on two counts of an indictment charging him with the theft of submarine parts owned by the Government ( 18 U.S.C. § 641 ).

The central issue on appeal is this: Was Howey’s knowledge that the property in question belonged to the Government an essential element of the theft offense stated in 18 U.S.C. § 641 ? If it was, Howey’s conviction must be reversed because the jury was not instructed upon that element. We hold that such knowledge was not an element of the offense, and we affirm the conviction.

Howey relies primarily on a holding of the Tenth Circuit in Findley v. United States (1966) 362 F.2d 921 that an essential element of the section 641 offense charging unauthorized sale of Government property (“Whoever * * * without authority, sells, conveys or disposes of any * * * thing of value of the United States”) is knowledge on the part of the defendant “that the property sold belonged to the United States and had been stolen from the United States.” ( 362 F.2d at 922 .) We think that Findley is wrong, and we decline to follow it.

Findley does not explain how the conclusion was reached that such knowledge is essential, other than to cite…