United States v. Margarito O. Romero, United States of America v. Hugo Frederic Forster

THE APPEALS:

Appellant Margarito 0. Romero appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence to custody on eight counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (stolen gold transported in interstate commerce) and one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy).

Appellant Hugo Frederic Forster appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence to custody on five counts of violating § 2314 and one count of violating § 371.

The appeals were consolidated for hearing and disposition.

We note jurisdiction and affirm.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE DISTRICT COURT:

Romero and Forster were jointly indicted on October 13, 1976. The charges under §§2314 and 371 covered the period of November, 1973 through March, 1975. The District Court denied the several motions of Romero and Forster for the suppression of documentary evidence seized under federal search warrants from the possession of state law enforcement officers. The District Court also denied appellants’ motions for dismissal on the grounds of speedy trial violations and abuse of the grand jury process. Romero and Forster were tried to the District Court without a jury upon a stipulation of facts and the admission in evidence of the various federally…

dissenting:

I dissent from the judgment and from part I of the opinion. I concur with parts II and III. Even as to part I, I agree with much of Judge East’s discussion. I have no quarrel with the ruling that the federal search warrants were founded on information obtained from sources independent of any tainted examination of the materials improperly seized by the state. I do not question the federal seizures from Romero’s home or Forster’s business office of documents theretofore returned by the state. I do not contend that the invalidity of the seizure conferred upon the seized materials permanent immunity from seizure. Once suppressed material is back in the hands of the defendants in my view it is once more subject to seizure, assuming that the warrant under which it is seized is free from taint and that the basis for the earlier suppression does not continue to exist. My trouble with part I relates only to the search of the office of the state prosecutor and the seizure of materials found there.

I review the facts briefly. State officers seized documents from the defendants’ premises under a defective warrant. The seized evidence was suppressed by court order. The United…

585 F.2d 391 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Margarito O. ROMERO, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hugo Frederic FORSTER, Defendant-Appellant. Nos. 77-2964, 77-2969. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Aug. 16, 1978. Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Nov. 3, 1978. Ephraim Margolin (argued), San Francisco, Cal., William L. Osterhoudt (argued), of Singer & Osterhoudt, San Francisco, Cal., for defendants-appellants. Edward P. Davis, Asst. U. S. Atty. (argued), San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before MERRILL, Senior Circuit Judge, SNEED, Circuit Judge, and EAST, * Senior District Judge. EAST, Senior District Judge: THE APPEALS: Appellant Margarito O. Romero appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence to custody on eight counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (stolen gold transported in interstate commerce) and one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy). Appellant Hugo Frederic Forster appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence to custody on five counts of violating § 2314 and one count…