United States v. Donald Jacob Arceneaux

Defendant Areeneaux admittedly participated in a bank robbery. The defense, the only possible defense in view of the otherwise overwhelming evidence of guilt, was entrapment based on the activity of Easley, one of two robbers killed in the course of the robbery. It is not claimed that there was any error in the presentation of the Government’s case, but it is claimed that defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation was violated, when in the defendants’ case the attorney for LaFleur, a co-defendant, called Padden, an F.B.I. agent, as a witness and elicited from him the substance of a telephone conversation between the agent and Easley relating to the bank robbery.

The portion of the conversation as to which objection is made was to the effect that Areeneaux was the originator of the plan to rob, had selected the bank to be robbed, and had provided the guns to be used; that Easley had indicated to Areeneaux an intention to participate in the robbery; that Padden told Easley that under no circumstances should he take part in the robbery; that Easley agreed he would not. This evidence indicating that Areeneaux was the prime mover of the scheme to rob did tend to diminish his…

dissenting :

To avoid the impact of Bruton v. United States (1968) 391 U.S. 123 , 88 S.Ct. 1620 , 20 L.Ed.2d 476 , the majority expands the defense of entrapment beyond the bounds of any federal case and applies that newly created doctrine to affirm Arceneaux’s conviction despite the fact that the jury was not instructed on the law as the majority now pronounces it.

Easley’s statements against Arceneaux were inadmissible unless those statements were relevant for a nonhearsay purpose. The Bruton problem inheres from the admission of those statements with the district court’s instruction that the jury should consider them only against Arceneaux’s codefendant. To bypass Bruton , the majority has to find a way to make the evidence admissible against Arceneaux, and to do that, it is necessary to discover an issue to which Easley’s statements could be relevant without regard to the truth of the matters asserted. That feat is accomplished by holding that the defense of entrapment is available if the Government’s state of mind was ignoble even if the person who induced the crime was not an agent of the Government. The majority then reasons that Easley’s statement was relevant to the…

437 F.2d 924 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Donald Jacob ARCENEAUX, Defendant-Appellant. No. 19727. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Jan. 25, 1971. 1 Ronold J. Mullin, of Mullin, Hoffman & Rodriguez, San Francisco, Cal., for the appellant. 2 James L. Browning, Jr., U.S. Atty., Jerrold M. Ladar, Chief, Crime. Div., San Francisco, Cal., for the appellee. 3 Before HUFSTEDLER and KILKENNY, Circuit Judges, and SMITH, * District Judge. RUSSELL E. SMITH, District Judge: 4 Defendant Arceneaux admittedly participated in a bank robbery. The defense, the only possible defense in view of the otherwise overwhelming evidence of guilt, was entrapment based on the activity of Easley, one of two robbers killed in the course of the robbery. It is not claimed that there was any error in the presentation of the Government's case, but it is claimed that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation was violated, when in the defendants' case the attorney for LaFleur, a co-defendant, called Padden, an F.B.I. agent, as a witness and elicited from him the substance of a telephone conversation between the agent and Easley relating to the bank robbery. 5 The portion…