Government of The Virgin Islands v. Meliah Bell, 392 F.2d 207, 3rd Cir. (1968)

392 F.
2d 207
GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

v.
Meliah BELL, Appellant.
No. 16523.
United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Argued Jan. 30, 1968.
Decided March 27, 1968.
Daniel H. Greenberg, New York City, for appellant.

John E. Stout, Asst. U.S. Atty., Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Almeric L.
Christian, U.S. Atty., V.I., for appellee.
Before KALODNER, STALEY and SEITZ, Circuit Judges.
OPINION OF THE COURT
STALEY, Circuit Judge.
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence imposed against

Meliah Bell in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, following the jury's
verdict that the defendant was guilty of violating Title 14, V.I.C. 834(2),
obtaining money or property by false pretenses. The defendant has asserted
numerous errors in this appeal, but the crucial issue presented concerns the
district court's instruction to the jury that they could consider the defendant's
failure to testify to deny or explain evidence against him as tending to indicate
the truth of such evidence, and inferences drawn therefrom. We conclude that
this instruction was erroneous and we will reverse for a new trial.
The case against Mr. Bell was instituted by information 1 alleging that the
defendant defrauded the American Express Company and various local retail
merchants of the island of St. Thomas through the defendant's unauthorized,
fraudulent use of a credit card. At the trial, the Government produced witnesses
to show that the defendant made a number of purchases of watches and luxury
items at different shops, and the owner of the card did not authorize the
defendant to use it. The defense was predicated on a theory of mistaken

identity; aside from recalling one of the Government's witnesses, defense
counsel sought to establish his theory through cross-examination. The
defendant did not testify.
3
After closing arguments, and without any request to do so, the district court
included the following in its instruction to the jury:
'You are instructed that it is the constitutional right of a defendant in a criminal

case that he may not be compelled to testify. Thus, whether or not he does
testify is entirely his own decision. Because of the facts within his knowledge,
if he does not testify or if he does testify he fails to deny or explain such
evidence or facts against him, the jury may take the failure into consideration
as tending to indicate the truth of such evidence and also indicating an inference
that may be reasonably drawn to it. The failure of the defendant to deny or
explain evidence against him, or by itself, neither warrants an inference of guilt
nor does it relieve the prosecution of the burden of proving every essential
element of the crime and guilt of the defendant beyond all reasonable doubt.'
Clearly, were this instruction given in another Federal district court, we would
be compelled to reverse. Griffin v. State of California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct.
1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965); Wilson v. United States, 149 U.S. 60, 13 S.Ct.
765, 37 L.Ed. 650 (1893). As noted in Griffin, 380 U.S. at 612, 85 S.Ct. at
1229, the Federal rule vested upon 18 U.S.C. 3481:
'In the trial of all persons charged with the commission of offenses against the
United States and in all proceedings in courts martial and courts of inquiry in
any State, District, Possession or Territory, the person charged shall, at his own
request, be a competent witness. His failure to make such request shall not
create any presumption against him.'
The Supreme Court in Griffin went further to 'hold that the Fifth Amendment,
in its direct application to the Federal Government and in its bearing on the
States by reason of the Fourteenth Amendment, forbids either comment by the
prosecution on the accused's silence or instructions by the court that such
silence is evidence of guilt.' 380 U.S. at 615, 85 S.Ct. at 1233.
However, the Government urges that the relevant law, properly applied in the
district court, was the local law of the Virgin Islands. The argument is that the
privilege against self-incrimination accrues to persons in the Virgin Islands by
virtue of Section 3 of the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, 68 Stat.
497, and not because of the Fifth Amendment. The rules of decision in the
courts of the Virgin Islands are the 'rules of the common laws, as expressed in
the restatements of the law approved by the American Law Institute, and to the
extent not so expressed, as generally understood and applied in the United
States * * *.' 1 V.I.C. 4 (1967). The American Law Institute's Model Code of
Evidence, Rule 201(3) expressly sanctions comment on an accused's refusal to
testify by judge and counsel. Ergo, the instruction was not erroneous.
9
We think this argument is without merit. The statutory basis for the rule
forbidding comment, Wilson, supra, is by its terms applicable not only to
United States District Courts, but also to 'Territorial' courts. Thus the fact that
the District Court of the Virgin Islands is not a constitutional court, Callwood v.
Cllwood, 127 F.Supp. 179 (D.V.I., 1954), and that other provisions of the
United States Code are not applicable to proceedings therein, is not relevant
here.
10
Second, the Model Code of Evidence relied upon by the Government is NOT a
restatement of the common law. Indeed the comment to the section relied upon
by the Government which would authorize comment on an accused's refusal to
testify states:
11
'This has been accepted nowhere at common law except in Maine and possibly
in New Jersey and Connecticut In most states a statute or the current
interpretation of a constitutional or statutory provision prohibits all comment
and inferences.'
As noted in Griffin:
12
'The overwhelming consensus of the States, however, is opposed to allowing

comment on the defendant's failure to testify. The legislatures or courts of 44
States have recognized that such comment is, in light of the privilege against
self-incrimination 'an unwarrantable line of argument." 380 U.S. at 611, n. 3, 85
S.Ct. at 1231.
13
Moreover, without further extending this opinion, we see no reason for

permitting a different standard to apply to proceedings in the Virgin Islands
than applies to those in other Federal and state courts, and were it necessary to
do so, we would exercise our supervisory power to forbid such comment. Cf.
Government of the Virgin Islands v. Lovell, 378 F.2d 799, 805 (C.A. 3, 1967).
14
The Government next argues that even were the Griffin rule applicable, the
instruction constituted mere 'harmless error' under the circumstances. Chapman

v. State of California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). The
'harmless' nature of the error is said to flow from the fact that there was only
one such comment; there was an 'overwhelming abundance of direct evidence';
and the district court tempered the thrust of the instruction by adding that the
Government still had the burden of proving each element and the failure to
testify itself did not warrant an inference of guilt.
15
The Supreme Court established the rule in Chapman, supra, 'that before a
federal constitutional error can be held harmless, the court must be able to
declare a belief that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.' 386 U.S. at 24,
87 S.Ct. at 828. While the evidence introduced to convict Bell was adequate to
support the jury's verdict, we cannot confidently assert that the district court's
authorization to the jury to consider the inferences from the defendant's failure
to testify had no effect on the outcome of the verdict. The Government's case
was principally based on identifications of the defendant by various sales
persons as the individual who purchased items from them with an American
Express card belonging to a Meyer Odence well over a year before the date of
the trial. Considering the heavy volume of business conducted by the
merchants in St. Thomas, a great deal of it involving credit cards, and the
number of persons served by any salesman, the jury may well have considered
the inferences which could be drawn from Bell's failure to testify-- including
the obvious proposition that he could not deny the purchases-- a decisive
element. That the jury may have been so influenced is not rebutted by the
Government.
16
Accordingly, we must reverse the judgment of conviction and remand for a

new trial.
We have previously upheld this manner of proceeding in the Virgin Islands.

Rivera v. Government of the Virgin Islands, 375 F.2d 988 (C.A.3, 1967)

Government of The Virgin Islands v. Meliah Bell, 392 F.2d 207, 3rd Cir. (1968)

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392 F.

GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Daniel H. Greenberg, New York City, for appellant.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence imposed against

defendant to use it. The defense was predicated on a theory of mistaken

'You are instructed that it is the constitutional right of a defendant in a criminal

'The overwhelming consensus of the States, however, is opposed to allowing

Moreover, without further extending this opinion, we see no reason for

instruction constituted mere 'harmless error' under the circumstances. Chapman

Accordingly, we must reverse the judgment of conviction and remand for a

We have previously upheld this manner of proceeding in the Virgin Islands.

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