Petitioners were found guilty by a jury on each count of a
ten-count indictment, of which the first count was a conspiracy
charge and the remaining counts were charges of substantive
offenses. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conspiracy convictions,
and, with some exceptions, the convictions for the substantive
offenses.
Held: in view of the Solicitor General's concessions
that an individual cannot be held criminally able for substantive
offenses committed before he joined or after he had withdrawn from
the conspiracy, and that some of the convictions for substantive
offenses here must accordingly be reversed, and, upon consideration
of the entire record, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is
vacated insofar as it affirms petitioners' convictions for
substantive offenses and remanded to reverse the convictions the
Solicitor General concedes must be reversed and to determine
whether petitioners are entitled to any further relief regarding
the convictions for substantive offenses.
Certiorari granted; 342 F.2d 147, vacated and remanded.
Page 383 U. S. 266
PER CURIAM.
Ten persons were found guilty by a jury on each count of a
10-count indictment. The count predicated on 18
Page 383 U. S. 267
U.S.C. § 371 (1964 ed.) charged all defendants with conspiring
to violate § 17 of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)
(1964 ed.), and the Mail Fraud Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (1964 ed.);
each of the remaining nine counts charged all defendants with
substantive offenses of violating these latter statutes. The Court
of Appeals affirmed all the conspiracy convictions and, with some
exception for petitioner Roberts and two other defendants, that
court also affirmed the convictions for the substantive offenses.
342 F.2d 147. Four defendants petitioned for writs of certiorari,
and a fifth defendant subsequently moved to be added as a
co-petitioner in one of the petitions already filed (No. 234). We
grant that motion, and we grant the petitions for writs of
certiorari limited to the issue whether petitioners were improperly
convicted of substantive offenses committed by members of the
conspiracy before petitioners had joined the conspiracy or after
they had withdrawn from it. In all other respects, the petitions
are denied.
In response to specific questions addressed by this Court, the
Solicitor General has made a two-pronged concession: first, he
concedes that an individual cannot be held criminally liable for
substantive offenses committed by members of the conspiracy before
that individual had joined or after he had withdrawn from the
conspiracy, and, second, he concedes that, in this case, some of
the convictions for the substantive offenses must be reversed
because they are inconsistent with this principle.** On the basis
of this concession, and upon consideration of the entire record, we
vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals insofar as it affirms
petitioners' convictions for the substantive offenses. We remand
the
Page 383 U. S. 268
case to that court with instructions to reverse the convictions
the Solicitor General concedes must be reversed, and to determine,
in light of the concession, the evidence, the instructions to the
jury, and the applicable principles of law, whether, in addition to
the relief conceded by the Solicitor General, petitioners are
entitled to further relief regarding the convictions for the
substantive offenses.
Vacated and remanded.
* Together with No. 125,
Roberts v. United States, No.
230,
Grene v. United States, and No. 234,
Gradsky et
al. v. United States, also on petitions for writs of
certiorari to the same court.
** Specifically, the Solicitor General concedes that petitioner
Levine's convictions on Counts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and
petitioner Grene's convictions on Counts 1 and 7 must be
reversed.
