324 F.

2d 582

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.
Samuel G. BENO, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 44.
Docket 28226.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued October 8, 1963.
Decided November 12, 1963.

Robert C. Zampano, U. S. Atty., District of Connecticut, New Haven,

Conn., for appellee.
W. Paul Flynn, of Kopkind & Flynn, New Haven, Conn., for defendantappellant.
Before CLARK, MOORE and KAUFMAN, Circuit Judges.
KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge.

Samuel G. Beno, an Internal Revenue Agent, was convicted by a jury of

soliciting and receiving a set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and a dictionary
from a taxpayer, intending that they influence his official decisions in violation
of federal law, 18 U.S.C. 202. On appeal, Beno contends that the prosecution
was improperly permitted to educe on cross-examination highly prejudicial
evidence concerning specific acts of the defendant which were wholly unrelated
to the offense charged, and was further allowed to introduce extensive
independent damaging testimony with reference to these collateral acts through
three government "character" witnesses.

The government's case against Beno may be briefly summarized. The evidence
revealed that at the time of the alleged offense, Beno was attached to the
Stamford, Connecticut office of the Internal Revenue Service, and that in
September of 1961, he was assigned the income tax return of the Walden Book
Company for examination. It further appeared that in examining the return,

Beno noticed the name of Charles Guinta listed as Walden's Treasurer. Since
he had previously known an accountant by the name of Richard Guinta, Beno
telephoned Richard, told him that he was in the process of examining Walden's
return, and asked him whether he was related to Charles. When he was
informed that the two were brothers, Beno allegedly told Richard that he was
interested in acquiring a set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and, according to
the government, gave Richard "the definite impression that if he received the
books, Beno would render services beneficial to the company in the event of an
audit." Richard subsequently informed Charles about his conversation with
Beno, and Charles promptly forwarded this information to the Inspection
Division of the Internal Revenue Service in Boston. Within a short period,
Beno called Charles directly to ask about the books, allegedly assuring him that
he would "survey" Walden's return, an esoteric Internal Revenue term defined
at trial to mean returning it to the home office without any examination of the
taxpayer's books and records. During this conversation, moreover,
arrangements were made for Beno to pick up the volumes of the encyclopedia
on October 2nd, in Charles' office.
3

With the cooperation of Charles and without the knowledge of Beno, the
Inspection Division had arranged to mechanically record this October 2nd
meeting upon a tape which was ultimately played for the jury. During the
course of this recorded interview, Beno did mention that he intended to
"survey" Walden's return, but, despite some prodding from Charles, he did not
furnish the prosecution with plainly incriminating admissions of any real value.
In any event, after his discussion with Charles, Beno collected the encyclopedia
and a dictionary and departed, but before he could reach his automobile, he was
intercepted by government agents and arrested. This, in brief, was the
prosecution's case.

Faced with the tape and arrested while in possession of the books, Beno, by
way of defense, did not seriously dispute the fact that he had called Richard
Guinta, that he had spoken to Charles, or that he had received the encyclopedia
and the dictionary, and, instead, maintained that he had always intended to pay
for the books. In support of this contention, he introduced several witnesses
who testified that he had requested a loan about the time of the events in
question for the express purpose of purchasing a set of encyclopedia. Insisting
that his conduct and motives were pure, Beno further suggested that he had
been interested in obtaining the encyclopedia so that he might donate it to a
community library, upon whose behalf the defendant's sister-in-law was
apparently an active fundraiser.

Thus we are met by the opposing positions of the government and the

defendant: the government painting Beno as a man of easy scruples, more alert
to the prospect of a profitable hand-out than the call of his official obligations,
and Beno, picturing himself as the innocent victim of some overzealous police
work. Beno now complains, however, that the portrait of an unscrupulous
official was painted by the prosecution with such broad brush-strokes and in
such vivid detail that serious prejudice was inevitable. In essence, he argues
that the prosecution was not content to portray the actions which have already
been recounted and which immediately preceded his arrest, but instead insisted
upon describing specific occurrences which possessed no relevance to the
charge of bribery other than to indicate that Beno was, indeed, an obnoxious
individual.
6

To deal adequately with Beno's objections, we are compelled to outline the

course of the trial in some detail. We note, at the outset, that the presentation
by the government of the improper, distracting and extraneous side-issues of
which Beno now complains was in some degree invited by the defense.

After the government concluded its case in chief, the propriety of which is not
challenged on appeal, the defense opened by calling witnesses Candee,
McCracken and Nagle to testify in Beno's behalf. It soon appeared that there
was some uncertainty as to the role which these witnesses were to play. While
the defense insisted that their testimony would be relevant on the issue of
Beno's "intent," or "predisposition" to commit the offense charged, the Court
instead admitted their evidence, over strenuous government objections, as going
to the question of the defendant's "character."1 Each witness thereupon told of
specific meetings with the defendant in the course of Beno's official duties, in
connection with the audits of other income tax returns in which the various
witnesses had been interested. All, while noting Beno's courteous and
trustworthy appearance, admitted that they knew him only through these
professional encounters, and that their meetings had been brief and sporadic.2
On cross-examination, it became clear that none of the three was competent to
testify as to Beno's community reputation for honesty, veracity, trustworthiness
or any other trait commonly classified as relevant to character.

In a colloquy with counsel held out of the jury's presence and immediately after
Candee, McCracken and Nagle had been excused, the trial judge confessed that
he had been somewhat surprised by the general gist of their testimony. Citing
Michelson v. United States, 335 U.S. 469, 69 S.Ct. 213, 93 L.Ed. 168 (1948),
the Court correctly observed that character witnesses may only testify as to
general community reputation, and may not describe specific acts of the
defendant, or divulge their personal observations or opinions; under such a test,
the judge pointed out, the testimony of Candee, McCracken and Nagle was

clearly improper.
9

Immediately after this discussion, the defense voluntarily excused two

additional witnesses who had planned to testify along the same lines as had
Candee, McCracken and Nagle. The court, however, did not strike the
testimony of the three already called because of the position taken by the
prosecution. For having failed in his earlier attempt to prevent the defense from
introducing evidence of specific collateral acts, the prosecuting attorney now
indicated that he was willing to wage the contest on the defendant's own terms.
Thus, in response to a question of the Court, the prosecutor explained that he
would "make no motion to strike at this point." Now "that the door [was]
open," he added, "I would rather go through it * * * myself than have it
closed." And the prosecution was to do precisely that.

10

After three witnesses had testified in support of the defendant's contention that
he intended to pay for the encyclopedia, Beno himself took the stand. In
response to questioning on his direct examination, he briefly outlined his
educational background, his military history and his employment record,
placing particular emphasis upon the importance of his duties with the Internal
Revenue Service. Once again asserting his innocence, Beno concluded his
direct testimony by concisely denying that he had ever considered the
encyclopedia or dictionary as a gratuity which was intended to influence the
performance of his official duties.

11

On cross-examination, the prosecution laid the groundwork for much that was
to follow. First, in a long series of questions, Beno was asked whether he had
ever accepted compensation for preparing the income tax returns of a Leo
Chagnon during the period in which he [Beno] was employed by the Internal
Revenue Service, in violation of the Rules of the Service. Although admitting
that he had prepared Chagnon's returns, Beno resolutely denied the receipt of
compensation. After the Chagnon returns were marked for identification as
exhibits, Beno was asked whether he had perjuriously signed the names of
various of his acquaintances as "preparers" of Chagnon's returns, and whether
one of these acquaintances had warned him not to "fool around" preparing
private returns. Beno reluctantly confessed to the false signatures, but denied
the admonition.

12

The prosecution then moved to a speeding conviction which the defendant had
incurred in Connecticut. Through Beno's answers, the jury learned both that he
was somewhat careless behind the wheel, and that he had submitted travel
vouchers to the government and was reimbursed for automobile expenses for
the period during which his driver's license had been suspended as a result of

this conviction. When, in response to the next series of questions, Beno

admitted a Massachusetts arrest for reckless driving, he denied repeatedly that
he had threatened to investigate or "pull the records" of several members of the
police force.
13

The cross-examination was concluded with a series of questions about a trip to

California which the defendant had taken with a lady friend a year prior to his
involvement with the Walden Book Company. As a result of this line of
testimony, the jury was left with the suggestion that there was something illicit
about the California excursion, and that Beno had lied to his superiors in
stating his reasons for requesting a leave of absence to make the journey. With
this, Beno stepped down, having been subjected to exhaustive examination on
five collateral issues: the receipt of compensation from Chagnon, the false
signatures on the returns, the fraudulent submission of travel vouchers to the
government, the alleged threats to the Massachusetts police officers, and the
California trip, as well as having had his Connecticut and Massachusetts traffic
convictions thoroughly aired.

14

Beno was followed to the stand by a parade of five defense character witnesses,
the testimony of all of whom followed a fixed pattern. This time, each was first
qualified to speak as to the defendant's community reputation for honesty and
truthfulness, and then each swore that it was "excellent" or "very good"; on
cross-examination, each was asked in rapid-fire succession whether he had
"heard" that the defendant had received compensation for preparing income tax
returns while in the employ of the Internal Revenue Service, that the defendant
had been arrested in Massachusetts for driving under the influence of alcohol,
that the defendant had been arrested in Massachusetts for reckless driving, and
that, upon his latter arrest, the defendant had threatened to "pull the [tax]
records" of the arresting officers. As each question was asked, the defense
would object; all objections were promptly overruled, and each witness would
respond in the negative as to his knowledge of each "rumor."

15

Unwilling to rely upon its cross-examination of the defendant and his character
witnesses, the prosecution, indicating its belief, which we have no reason to
doubt was in good faith, that the door had been opened wide, proceeded to call
its own witnesses, allegedly in "rebuttal" to the earlier defense testimony on the
defendant's "intent" or "pre-disposition" to commit the offense.

16

The first "rebuttal" witness to take the stand was Jean Marie McCaffrey,
formerly the lady friend of the defendant and one of the "acquaintances" whose
name Beno had signed as "preparer" of the Chagnon returns. Over vigorous
defense objections, Mrs. McCaffrey was permitted to testify that she did not

sign the returns personally, and that she did not "remember" either preparing a
tax return with Beno, or ever authorizing Beno to sign her name. After a crossexamination devoted to emphasizing that Mrs. McCaffrey's recollections were
unclear, she was permitted to step down, and Leo Chagnon himself was called.
17

In the course of an examination which was ultimately to spread over 112 pages
in the stenographic transcript, the over-whelming portion of which was devoted
to Chagnon's examination by the government, Chagnon was questioned in
detail as to his contacts with Beno, and particularly as to whether Beno had in
fact accepted compensation for preparing his returns. When Chagnon
continually refused to admit having paid Beno while the latter was employed
by the government, the prosecution was permitted to treat this witness to a
collateral matter as hostile and to show Chagnon an allegedly inconsistent
written statement which he had given to government agents before the trial.
Ordered by the court to answer unequivocally the questions placed by the
prosecution, Chagnon was then compelled to recount the circumstances which
led to this prior statement, and to admit that he had lied under oath in assuring
the government earlier that he had indeed compensated Beno for preparing the
returns.3

18

After a lengthy series of questions revealed that Chagnon had informed the
prosecuting attorney immediately before testifying that he intended to retract
his earlier statement when placed on the stand, Chagnon was finally excused,
and the prosecution concluded its presentation of "rebuttal" evidence by calling
John B. McCausland, a police officer who had participated in Beno's arrest for
reckless driving in Massachusetts. Once again, the question whether Beno had
threatened to "pull the records" of the arresting officers was explored, and
McCausland recounted, over the objections of the defense, the truculence and
profanity which the defendant had displayed in making the alleged threats.

19

After both sides had rested and the case was ready for submission to the jury,
Chagnon, through his own attorney, requested permission to reopen his
testimony and to resume the stand. The court permitted this but first instructed
the jury that Chagnon's testimony was "character" evidence and was not
relevant to the central issue to be tried the commission of the offense
charged but could merely be considered with reference to the question of
reasonable doubt. Chagnon then proceeded to testify that he may have
compensated Beno after all. After "the trial within a trial" had concluded, the
case was finally closed and given to the jury to determine if Beno had solicited
and received the encyclopedia and dictionary in violation of 18 U.S.C. 202.

20

From the foregoing, necessarily abbreviated account of the trial, it seems amply

clear that an inordinate amount of incompetent evidence found its way into the
record, and hence into the minds of the jurors. At best, some of this evidence
was merely irrelevant; at worst, much of it was highly inflammatory and
prejudicial. The voluminous testimony on specific, collateral acts of the
defendant offered by "rebuttal" witnesses McCaffrey, McCausland, and
especially Chagnon [just as the evidence offered by defense witnesses Candee,
McCracken and Nagle] was, without doubt, incompetent as character
testimony. As the trial judge himself recognized, only hearsay or reputation
testimony is permissible on the question of the defendant's character. See 1
Wigmore 193 at p. 643; McCormick on Evidence, 158, at pp. 334, 337.
21

In Michelson v. United States, 335 U. S. 469, 69 S.Ct. 213 (1948), Mr. Justice
Jackson spoke harsh words for character evidence in general: "To thus digress
from evidence as to the offense to hear a contest as to the standing of the
accused, at its best opens a tricky line of inquiry as to a shapeless and elusive
subject matter. At its worst it opens a veritable Pandora's box of irresponsible
gossip, innuendo and smear." He reasoned, however, that reputation evidence,
even though it be hearsay, is preferable to evidence of the defendant's specific
acts, because it avoids "innumerable collateral issues which, if it were
attempted to prove character by direct testimony, would complicate and confuse
the trial, distract the minds of jurymen and befog the chief issues in the
litigation." In the present case, merely to cite a few of several infractions, we
are driven to the conclusion that the exhaustive consideration devoted to
whether Beno had been compensated by Chagnon, or whether Beno had
threatened the officers who arrested him for reckless driving did far more than
to distract or befog the jury. By attempting to show that Beno was the sort of
man likely to be the perpetrator of crime, the prosecution denied him a fair
opportunity to defend against the particular crime charged, for this sort of
evidence weighs too heavily with the jury and makes impossible the
dispassionate approach necessary if justice is to be achieved.

22

The introduction of these side issues may not be justified as bearing on Beno's
intent, since the conduct involved is not of sufficient similarity to that alleged in
the indictment to be admissible. Compare United States v. Schiller, 187 F.2d
572 (2d Cir. 1951). This requirement that past crimes be of a similar nature
before they are admissible on the issue of intent gives effect to one of the most
fundamental notions known to our law that a man is entitled to be tried only
for specific charges explicitly stated, and should not be compelled to defend a
lifetime of conduct. See McCormick on Evidence, 1954, 157. It may be
argued that Beno's alleged receipt of compensation for the preparation of
Chagnon's tax returns might violate the regulations of the Internal Revenue
Service, as well as the statutes. See I.R.C.1954 7214(a) (2); 18 U.S.C. 209.

But see, 2 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News p. 3863, 87th Cong. 2nd Sess. But it is
not necessary for us to determine this. For, in this case, we feel that even if
there have been these infractions, the acceptance of compensation for outside
employment unrelated to Beno's official capacity is sufficiently distinguishable
from the taking of a bribe to influence the performance of his official conduct
so as to make the evidence inadmissible.
23

Nor do we see any merit to the prosecution's contention that all of these sideissues were relevant to the defendant's claim of entrapment. In the first place,
there was no evidence of entrapment. The defendant did not assert that the
government had unlawfully induced him to commit an offense, but, instead, that
he had not committed one. Further, the jury was explicitly instructed that the
testimony of witnesses Chagnon, McCaffrey and McCausland was relevant
solely on the question of the defendant's character. Finally, while the stillprevailing view of entrapment does make the defendant's "pre-disposition to
commit the offense" a relevant consideration, see Sherman v. United States,
356 U.S. 369, 78 S.Ct. 819, 2 L.Ed. 848 (1958), this has never, so far as we
have been able to determine, been interpreted to permit the sweeping
freewheeling and devastating sort of inquiry allowed here.

24

We are left then to determine whether the defendant, by calling witnesses

Candee, McCracken and Nagle to testify as to specific occasions on which
Beno acted honorably, thereby "opened the door" to all of the testimony
offered, both on cross-examination and through the prosecution's rebuttal
witnesses, as to the specific instances on which his conduct was improper in
one fashion or another.4 In determining this issue, we must first distinguish two
different situations from the present case. It is true, as the government has
noted that where a defendant, in his direct testimony, falsely states a specific
fact, the prosecution will not be prevented from proving, either through crossexamination or by calling its own witnesses, that he lied as to that fact. Walder
v. United States, 347 U.S. 62, 74 S.Ct. 354, 98 L. Ed. 503 (1954); United States
v. Colletti, 245 F.2d 781 (2nd Cir.), cert. denied Russo v. U. S., 355 U.S. 874,
78 S.Ct. 125, 2 L.Ed.2d 78 (1957). The rationale behind this rule is not difficult
to perceive, for even if the issue injected is irrelevant or collateral, a defendant
should not be allowed to profit by a gratuitously offered misstatement.

25

Further, where a defendant has offered proper character testimony through

witnesses who testify to his good reputation in the community, it is permissible
to ask these witnesses whether they have "heard" of rumors which could
injuriously affect their evaluation, provided that the prosecution acts in the
good faith belief that the incidents to which the questions allude actually
occurred, and the jury is instructed as to the limited weight which such

"evidence" may be given. Michelson v. United States, 335 U.S. 469, 69 S.Ct.
213, 93 L. Ed. 168 (1948); United States v. Giddins, 273 F.2d 843 (2d Cir.),
cert. denied, 362 U.S. 971, 80 S.Ct. 955, 4 L.Ed.2d 900 (1960); United States v.
Conforti, 200 F.2d 365 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 345 U. S. 925, 73 S.Ct. 782, 97
L.Ed. 1356 (1953). The often-stated purpose for permitting such questions,
even when they refer to a defendant's prior arrests, is that they better enable the
jury to evaluate the character testimony which has been proffered. If a witness
has heard of these damaging "rumors" and adheres to his statement that the
defendant's reputation is good, some light will have been shed upon the
standards which he has employed; alternatively, if he has not heard of these
"rumors," some doubt will have been cast upon his ability to speak on behalf of
the community.
26

But neither of these rules suggests that once a defendant has offered irrelevant
and incompetent evidence on certain specific facts, the prosecution is
immediately entitled to explore without restraint and at great length any
specific occurrence which might tend to create an abhorrent image of the
defendant. See Stansbury v. United States, 219 F.2d 165 (5th Cir. 1955);
United States v. Provoo, 215 F.2d 531 (2d Cir. 1954). For it makes little sense
to insist that once incompetent evidence is erroneously admitted, the error must
of necessity be compounded by "opening the door" so wide that rebutting
collateral, inflammatory and highly prejudicial evidence may enter the minds of
the jurors. In short, a small advantage improperly obtained does not compel the
exaction of a gross disadvantage in penalty, particularly where a tarnished
verdict is the inevitable result.

27

As we have already indicated, a criminal defendant is entitled to have his guilt

or innocence determined on the specific offense charged and not risk the
possibility of conviction for a series of prior specific acts which collectively
suggested that his career had been reprehensible. The force of this principle,
which lies at the heart of our criminal law system and seems a vital part of our
definition of due process of law, is in no way blunted merely because a
defendant has, in seeking acquittal, introduced evidence of less than
questionable relevance. While there are instances in which a defendant may
waive rights which the law invokes for his protection, Walder v. United States,
supra, the right to be tried for a specific offense, as the very foundation of a
criminal trial as we know it, cannot be one of them.

28

In terms of probable impact upon the minds of the jury, moreover, the evidence
of collateral acts introduced by prosecution and defense can in no respect be
said to be equivalent. Thus, in the present case, a jury which had learned that
Beno violated Internal Revenue Service directives by accepting compensation

for the preparation of private tax returns, unlawfully signed the names of others
as "preparers" of these returns, and attempted to abuse his official authority in
threatening police officers who arrested him for reckless driving is unlikely to
be impressed by the irrelevant evidence that he acted properly in the cases of
three individual tax audits. To put it succinctly, once a man and especially
an Internal Revenue Agent has been shown to be fundamentally immoral, a
jury will hardly be influenced by the fact that there were days when he did not
do anything dishonest.
29

We might add, finally, that the calling of prosecution "rebuttal" witnesses and
the cross-examination to which Beno was subjected were as unnecessary as
they were potentially prejudicial. By demonstrating, in cross-examination, that
defense witnesses Candee, McCracken and Nagle were unqualified to testify as
to Beno's community reputation and could only assert that they had never seen
him do anything wrong, the prosecution was able to destroy whatever effect
they did have on the jury; this could have been ensured by a motion to strike
their testimony which, as we have mentioned, the District Judge indicated a
willingness to grant.

30

Looking at the record as a whole, we are unable to determine whether Beno

was convicted of unlawfully accepting a gratuity, or of accepting compensation
from Chagnon, threatening the police officers, or any other of his prior
activities which were thoroughly explored for the jury's edification. We thus
feel constrained to reverse the conviction.5

31

The judgment of conviction will be reversed, and the case remanded for a new
trial.

Notes:
1

The colloquy at this point was instructive. After the government objected to the
line of questioning pursued with the witness Candee, defense counsel W. Paul
Flynn explained his purpose in calling the witness
"The Court: Well, I am sure that it is character testimony, is it not?
"Mr. Flynn: Well, the texts don't call it that, your Honor. The texts do not call it
character testimony, they indicate that it's relevant on issues of intent.
Disposition to commit the crime.

"The Court: Well, that's precisely what interpretation of character and

reputation is.
"I will allow it."
2

In the case of the witness Nagle, contacts with Beno totalled two hours

It is unnecessary to consider whether the prosecution was erroneously

permitted to treat Chagnon as a hostile witness. We do note, however, that the
atmosphere created when he was declared to be hostile added immeasurably to
the impact of his appearance on the stand, and further decreased the likelihood
that the jury's verdict would be determined by the evidence relating to the
bribery offense charged

We do not find it necessary to determine whether the cross-examination of

Beno, standing alone, was so improper as to compel reversal. In the present
case, the seeds sown on cross-examination were reaped in the testimony of the
prosecution's rebuttal witnesses, and the damage done to the defendant
infinitely compounded

Upon submitting the case to the jury, the Court did charge that the testimony of
defense witnesses Candee, McCracken and Nagle, as well as that of prosecution
witnesses McCaffrey, McCausland and Chagnon, was not to be considered with
reference to the defendant's guilt or innocence of the offense charged, but was
merely "character" evidence relevant to the question of reasonable doubt. In
view of our conclusion that this evidence was improper and inadmissible, the
charge was "too little, too late." But even if the jury had been properly
instructed to disregard the prosecution's rebuttal testimony entirely, we feel
that, under the circumstances of this case, this would have been insufficient to
eradicate from the jurors' minds the prejudicial impact of this inflammatory
testimony