451 F.2d 564

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Thomas Ralph FARESE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 71-1316

Summary Calendar.*

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Nov. 16, 1971.

*565Morton Orbach, Miami, Fla., Court appointed, for defendant-appellant.

Robert W. Rust, U. S. Atty., Jerome B. Ullman, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., Miami, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.

Before GEWIN, GOLDBERG and DYER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Thomas Ralph Farese was found guilty by a jury of receiving and selling a stolen portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1 valued in excess of $5,000 which was moving as, or was a part of and constituted interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2315.2

On this appeal Farese contends that the district court erred in denying his pre-trial motions to compel disclosure of evidence favorable to him and for discovery and inspection. He also raises for the first time his objections to the comments made by counsel for the government during closing argument and to the instructions given to the jury regarding reasonable doubt and interstate commerce. Upon examination of the record and briefs we find no support for any of these contentions and affirm the conviction.

More than five months in advance of trial a hearing was held on Farese’s motions to compel disclosure of *566all evidence favorable to him and for discovery and inspection of certain documents. Shortly before the hearing was to commence, Farese’s counsel notified the court that he would be unable to attend the hearing. At the time set for the hearing the court noted that Farese’s counsel had failed to comply with Local Rule 10(g) 3 of the district court. The court thereupon denied Farese’s motions, “without prejudice, if good cause can be shown.” Farese’s argument that this order placed an unlawful burden upon him to show good cause is without merit in view of his failure to renew his motions at any time during the five months between the date of denial and the day of trial.4

It is further contended that government counsel’s comment during final argument to the effect that Farese had knowledge that the painting was stolen and that nobody had testified that the painting was worth less than $5,000 amounted to impermissible comments on his failure to testify in his own behalf. An examination of the entire summation by the government indicates that the prosecutor’s remarks were nothing more than fair comment on the evidence before the jury and certainly did not constitute plainly erroneous comment on Farese’s failure to testify.5

Farese’s objections to the district court’s instructions as misleading or erroneous are similarly without merit. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 30 precludes assignment as error any portion of the court’s charge or omission from the charge unless the error is objected to before the jury retires. The instructions given in this case were proper and did not constitute “plain error.”

The judgment of conviction is affirmed.

United States v. Farese
451 F.2d 564

Case Details

Name
United States v. Farese
Decision Date
Nov 16, 1971
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451 F.2d 564

Jurisdiction
United States

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