James Harrison Collins v. United States

PER CURIAM: James Harrison Collins has appealed from the judgment convicting him of violating the Dyer Act. His sole specification centers upon the contention that the verdict is not supported by substantial evidence. We disagree. As in Jarvis v. United States, 312 F.2d 563, 564, (9th Cir. 1963) the conclusion may be reached in this case on the basis of the record that Collins “lost his case when United States v. Turley, 352 U.S. 407, 77 S.Ct. 397, 1 L.Ed.2d 430, was decided in 1957, holding that an embezzled car could be the subject of a conviction under the Dyer Act.” When renting the car on December 28, 1967, Collins agreed to return it to the rental agency at Killeen, Texas by January 4, 1968. Where he was on the latter date does not appear, but the evidence is that on January 9, he had the car in Louisiana; that he continued to have it in his possession until April 10, when he was stopped in California for a traffic violation, and that when initially questioned there he claimed ownership. Nec *1353 essarily he had driven the car across “a lot of state lines” during the intervening three months and in the course of adding over 10,000 miles to the mileage shown on the odometer. True, there was no direct proof to establish at what precise place and time he first asserted ownership, but the circumstances were such that a jury might well have found he did so at least before entering California. The judgment is affirmed.