United States v. Hugh MacLeod Pheaster, United States of America v. Angelo Inciso

Appellants Pheaster and Inciso were tried before a jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and were convicted on all counts of a 12-count criminal indictment. Count One charged appellants, together with other unindicted co-conspirators whose names were unknown to the grand jury, with a conspiracy to kidnap and hold Larry Adell for ransom in violation of Section 1201(c), Title 18, United States Code. The remaining eleven counts charged Pheaster with depositing letters in the mail containing both requests for ransom for the release of Larry Adell (Counts Two, Four, Six, Eight, Ten and Twelve) and extortionate threats to injure Larry Adell (Counts Three, Five, Seven, Nine and Eleven), in violation of the first and second paragraphs, respectively, of Section 876, Title 18, United States Code. Inciso was charged with having aided and abetted the offenses charged in Counts Two through Twelve. 1 Judgments of conviction were entered on November 21, 1974. Pheaster and Inciso were each sentenced to seventy years’ imprisonment on Counts Two through Twelve of the indictment and to life imprisonment on Count One, with the sentences on Count One to run…

(concurring and dissenting):

My Brother Renfrew, in his customary way, has written a scholarly and thoughtful opinion in this sad and difficult case. I concur in the affirmance of Pheaster’s conviction on the substantive charges, none of which involved kidnapping per se, but I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s affirmance of Inciso’s conviction on the charge of conspiracy. 1 Viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as I must, I am absolutely convinced that the evidence is insufficient either to support his conviction or to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was transported in interstate commerce. Such transportation is, of course, an indispensable element of the crime. And as to that issue, I simply cannot agree that there was “substantial corroborative evidence” that the victim, Larry Adell, was “moved out of the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas.” Standing alone, Pheaster’s initial comment to the police, which he subsequently changed at least twice, that Adell was being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, is not adequate. Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84 , 75 S.Ct. 158 , 99 L.Ed. 101 (1954). The sighting of Adell in Apple…

544 F.2d 353 2 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 593 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hugh MacLeod PHEASTER, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Angelo INCISO, Defendant-Appellant. Nos. 75-1004 and 74-3308. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Aug. 19, 1976. 1 John Van de Kamp (argued), Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant in 75-1004. 2 Joe Reichmann (argued), Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant in 74-3308. 3 Robert C. Bonner, Asst. U. S. Atty. (argued), Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. 4 Before ELY and WALLACE, Circuit Judges, and RENFREW, * District Judge. RENFREW, District Judge: 5 Appellants Pheaster and Inciso were tried before a jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and were convicted on all counts of a 12-count criminal indictment. Count One charged appellants, together with other unindicted co-conspirators whose names were unknown to the grand jury, with a conspiracy to kidnap and hold Larry Adell for ransom in violation of Section 1201(c), Title 18, United States Code. The remaining eleven counts charged Pheaster with depositing letters…