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434 F.2d 124

Docket No. 25499.

United States v. Vaught

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided Nov. 12, 1970.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 7, 1970.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 1970-11-12

2 counsel of record

Applies 18 U.S.C. § 371 · 18 U.S.C. § 545 · 19 U.S.C. § 1459 (Tariff Act of 1930) · 5 U.S.C. § 552 (Freedom of Information Act)

Relies on Witt v. United States · 64 Cal. 2d 826 - In Re Romano · United States v. Jetter

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by (per_curiam) · Decided 1970-11-12

How this case has been cited

Cited by 11 later decisions — most recently October 1990

9 federal appellate · 1 district ·

80197019801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1*125Fields & Klein, Sacramento, Cal., for appellant.

¶2Harry D. Steward, U. S. Atty., Brian E. Michaels, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Diego, Cal., for appellee.

¶3Before MERRILL and ELY, Circuit Judges, and *JAMESON, District Judge.

¶5PER CURIAM:

¶6This is an appeal from a conviction on three counts of an indictment, the first count charging conspiracy to smuggle merchandise into the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 18 U.S.C. § 545, the second count charging smuggling, and the third count, concealment and facilitating transportation and concealment, in violation of section 545, all counts alleging the importation of 23,000 amphetamine tablets without the merchandise having been presented for inspection, entered and declared as provided by 19 U.S.C. §§ 1459, 1461, 1484 and 1485.1

¶7Appellant contends that the prosecution under section 545 violates his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, because it requires him to give evidence which might be used against him in a state criminal prosecution. He argues that a manifest describing the merchandise would be available to California law enforcement officers pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, making “it clear that ‘self-incrimination’ at least under California Health and Safety Code, (prohibiting the possession, possession for sale, or transportation of dangerous drugs) … is a very ‘substantial risk’.”

¶8The same contention was rejected by this court in United States v. Perez, 426 F.2d 799 (1970), involving the importation of seconal capsules in violation of section 545, the court pointing out that, “The general customs and tariff laws which Perez violated in failing to declare the seconal capsules were imposed in an essentially noncriminal area and were primarily designed to produce federal revenue.” 2

¶9 Appellant suggests that a different rule might apply with respect to the conspiracy charge. We do not agree. In any event, as noted supra, the sentences were concurrent. Accordingly any error in instructions would be immaterial since the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction on the other two counts.

¶10Affirmed.

¶13ELY, Circuit Judge

¶14(concurring):

¶15While I concur in the result, I am hopeful that our court will soon reexamine the rule that permits a defendant to be convicted of a separate charge of conspiracy to commit an offense when he is, at the same time, convicted of the substantive offense itself. Some jurisdictions, including California, have abandoned that rule, and I think rightly so. See, e. g., In re Romano, 64 Cal.2d 826, 51 Cal.Rptr. 910, 415 P.2d 798 (1966); Cal.Penal Code, § 654 (West 1957).

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