United States v. James H. Price, United States of America v. Joan R. Price

The defendants each appeal their convictions of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of mail fraud. The judgments were entered following a jury trial in district court.

Mr. Price argues (1) that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the convictions, and (2) based upon comments made by the trial judge during trial, that he was deprived of a fair trial. Mrs. Price also argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions, and that certain of the trial court’s instructions constituted reversible error.

Because we find the evidence insufficient to support a jury’s conclusion that Mrs. Price was cognizant of any fraudulent aspects of the business, we reverse her convictions on all four counts. We affirm Mr. Price’s convictions.

Facts

The government introduced evidence at trial that in the fall of 1976, Mr. Price organized Marketing Institute of America (hereafter MIA), a Virginia based corporation. On February 1, 1977, MIA entered into a contract with Dun-Hot, Inc., a Michigan popcorn machine manufacturer, whereby MIA as an independent contractor obtained the exclusive right to market Dun-Hot…