United States v. Raymond Eugene Johnson

Appellant, Raymond Eugene Johnson, was convicted in a jury trial of aiding and abetting the obstruction of correspondence, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . Johnson appeals on the ground that statements made by him on the day of his arrest should have been suppressed for the reason that the arrest was illegal and the statements were products of the illegal arrest and not voluntarily made, and on the further ground that the judge committed error in instructing the jury concerning the voluntariness of appellant’s confession. We reverse.

FACTS

On March 30, 1977, Lena Kearney received by mistake in the mail a letter addressed to Elihu Peterson, containing a United States Treasury check payable to Peterson, in the amount of $4,681.00. Kearney discussed the receipt of this check with her sister-in-law, Wynona Powell, and decided to keep the check and attempt to cash it. Powell then phoned a friend, Joe Dodd, to ask him for assistance in cashing the check. On the following day, Dodd arrived at the Kearney residence with Eugene McCardell and Raymond Johnson, the appellant. The three men seated themselves around a coffee table in Kearney’s living room and studied the…