United States v. Edward D. Pope

Appellant Pope appeals his conviction for escape and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. We reverse.

FACTS

Edward Pope was convicted in April 1983, in Idaho, of interstate transportation of a stolen car. He was sentenced to prison and sent to the federal correctional facility in Springfield, Missouri. In January 1985, Pope was transferred to the Community Treatment Center at Channel Enterprises in Boise, Idaho — a halfway house that houses inmates near the ends of their sentences.

On February 26, 1985, Pope left Channel for a few hours to look for a job. He did not return. The next day, he took a pickup truck from a car dealer for a test drive. He called the dealer half an hour later to say he was going to the bank to get money to buy the truck. He never returned the truck. He was arrested a week later, on March 4, while driving the truck in Illinois.

On March 14, 1985, he was indicted in federal court in Idaho for escape and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 751 (a) and 2312. He was arraigned on March 20, and a jury trial was set for May 8. On April 12, Pope’s attorney, John Lynn, gave notice his client would rely on an…