UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLEE,
v.
ROBERT D. POITRAS AND WILLIAM J. DUPREZ, APPELLANTS

4th Cir. | 1964-12-08
No. 9488
339 F.2d 428 United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1964) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Holding

The court held that the district court did not err in refusing the accused the number of peremptory challenges permitted in a capital case, as the indictment did not sufficiently allege a capital offense.


Facts & Procedural History

Appellants were charged with kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1201, which permits the death penalty. However, the indictment stated the victim was 'unharm…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

In our opinion the District Court did not err in refusing to allow the accused the number of peremptory challenges permitted in a capital case,1 the one error they assign on this appeal. While the charge was kidnapping, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 which permits punishment by death, the appellants were granted only the challenges prescribed for a non-capital felony prosecution1 because the indictment stated that the victim was “unharmed at the time of his liberation”.

Greater precision could have been achieved by the criminal pleader by use of the statutory language, “liberated unharmed”, to avoid limiting the existence of injury to the date of liberation. Cf. Robinson v. United States, 324 U.S. 282, 65 S.Ct. 666, 89 L.Ed. 944 (1945); Smith v. United States, 360 U.S. 1, 79 S.Ct. 991, 3 L.Ed.2d 1041 (1959), including the separate opinion of Justice Clark at p. 13, 79 S.Ct. at p. 998. But we find the present allegation sufficed to guarantee the defendants immunity from the death penalty.

In addition, the Government’s bill of particulars and the oral explanation of the Court on voir dire examination unequivocally and irrevocably informed the jurors that capital punishment was neither sought nor possible in their verdict. The judgment of the District Court will be affirmed.

Affirmed.

. Fed.R.Crim.P. 24(b).


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