JOHN DANIEL BYARS, APPELLANT,
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLEE

6th Cir. | 1956-10-17
No. 12822
Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, and ALLEN and MILLER, Circuit Judges.
238 F.2d 82 United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1956) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that hearsay testimony, admitted without objection, can be considered by the jury and does not require reversal if it supports the verdict.


Facts & Procedural History

Appellant was convicted of offenses related to an illegal still. The government's case included hearsay testimony from a co-defendant implicating the …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Following trial by jury, appellant was found guilty under a three-count indictment charging unlawful possession of a still, unlawfully carrying on the business of a distiller, and unlawful possession of distilled spirits, and received a sentence of $300 fine and imprisonment of 179 days. Sections 2810(a), 2833(a) and 2803(a), Title 26, U.S.Code.

Part of the Government’s evidence was the testimony of two witnesses who stated that Matthews, a co-defendant, when arrested, made the statement, not in the presence of the appellant, that he was paid $6 a day by the appellant for working at the still. This testimony, although hearsay, was not objected to at any time during the trial, and no motion for judgment of acquittal was made at the close of the Government’s case or at the end of all the evidence in the case. Appellant concedes that the evidence, although weak, if competent and believed, was sufficient to take the case to the jury. He contends on this appeal that the foregoing hearsay testimony should be disregarded and the judgment reversed for lack of substantial, competent evidence to support the verdict. Moss v. United States, 6 Cir., 132 F. 2d 875, 878; Loehr v. United States, 10 Cir., 54 F. 2d 859.

The Court is of the opinion that the hearsay evidence, in the absence of objections to its admission, was properly considered by the jury, Diaz v. United States, 223 U.S. 442, 450, 32 S.Ct. 250, 56 L.Ed. 500; Clark v. McNeill, 6 Cir., 25 F. 2d 247; that the weight to be given to such testimony in view of the attempt made to discredit it was also a question for the jury, Ross v. United States, 6 Cir., 197 F. 2d 660, 665, certiorari denied 344 U.S. 832, 73 S.Ct. 40, 97 L.Ed. 648; and that it should not be disregarded by the Court on this review, Metcalf v. United States, 6 Cir., 195 F. 2d 213, 216-217.

The judgment is affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw