United States v. Lester Joseph Nevitt

Nevitt appeals from his conviction upon multiple charges of transporting and conspiring to transport in interstate commerce falsely made securities in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 , 2314. His former codefend-ant Snider pleaded guilty and testified against him in accordance with her plea bargain. There are two issues on appeal: (1) Did the district court err in forbidding Nevitt to impeach Snider with a prior felony conviction, and (2) did the district court err in refusing to give a jury instruction which incorporated Nevitt’s version of the facts? We hold that the district court committed reversible error in preventing the impeachment of the Government’s witness, but there was no error in rejecting Nevitt’s proffered jury instruction.

Snider and Nevitt met in March of 1975 when both were working for the Fred Harvey Company in Grand Canyon, Arizona. She was separated from her husband. The two began living together and held themselves out as husband and wife. She learned how to operate the CTWX machine in a manner which permitted her to falsify TWX messages for the issuance of money orders. According to her testimony, she and Nevitt agreed that she would type false TWX messages…