Carl Frank Mitchell v. United States

Appellant Carl Mitchell was convicted by jury verdict on seven counts of attempted theft from the mails, in violation of Section 1708 of Title 18, United States Code.

Mitchell was employed as a truck driver with Hill’s Transportation Company. Hill’s had a contract with the Post Office to carry inbound mail from oceangoing ships to post office branches in the San Francisco Bay area. According to the government, Mitchell and four other truck drivers conspired to divert shipments of tape recorders, stereo equipment, and other material, into their own hands by changing address labels on the various packages. Five of these packages were addressed to Mitchell, and two were addressed to his wife, Carol Mitchell.

The trial court granted a motion of acquittal on the conspiracy charge (count one) with the statement that the evidence was insufficient to present that charge to the jury, and a finding that no prejudice resulted to any person by reason of submitting the remaining counts (violations of § 1708) to the jury. The substantive counts submitted to the jury in which Mitchell was charged were: 7, 8, 9, 10,11, 12 and 28.

Although the written verdict signed by the Foreman found…