Backun v. United States case brief

Backun v. United States case brief summary
112 F.2d 635 (1940)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant appealed decision of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of North Carolina convicting and sentencing him for transporting stolen merchandise of a value in excess of $ 5,000 in interstate commerce in violation of the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U.S.C.S. § 415.

CASE FACTS
Defendant appealed his conviction under the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U.S.C.S. § 415. Defendant claimed that he did not know that the property he sold was going to be transported in interstate commerce, and the evidence was insufficient to support allegation that property was worth more than $ 5,000.

DISCUSSION

• The appeals court determined that the evidence did not show an express contract that the purchaser of the property was to carry property out of state. 
• However, it found that defendant knew that the purchaser would do so and, by making the sale to him, caused the transportation in interstate commerce. 
• Thus, there was evidence of direct participation by defendant in the criminal purpose of the purchaser of the goods. 
• Nevertheless, the court reversed the conviction because the evidence did not sufficiently prove that the value of the property exceeded $ 5,000 as the statute required for a valid conviction.

CONCLUSION
Defendants conviction was reversed because although sufficient evidence proved that defendant knew that the stolen property he sold was going to be transported in interstate commerce, the evidence did not sufficiently prove that the value of the property was in excess of $ 5,000, thus the conviction was not proper.



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