Burton v. United States

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Not to be confused with Bruton v. United States .

Burton v. United States is the name of two appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States by Senator Joseph R. Burton (R-KS) following his conviction for compensated representation of a party in a proceeding in which the United States was interested: Burton v. United States, 196 U.S. 283 (1905)[1] and Burton v. United States, 202 U.S. 344 (1906).[2] Burton was convicted of acting as counsel to Rialto Grain and Securities Company in the United States Postmaster General 's investigation of Rialto for mail fraud .

Sen. Burton

On Burton's first appeal, the Supreme Court reversed his convictions because venue and vicinage could not be proper in the Eastern District of Missouri on the sole ground that Burton's bank sent the check to St. Louis after he cashed it. Further, the Court cited the prejudicial refusal of jury instructions. After Burton was retried and convicted, the Court affirmed, inter alia, on the ground that the agreement between Burton and Rialto had occurred in St. Louis.

Burton was the first defendant convicted under § 1782 of the Revised Statutes , 40 years after its 1864 enactment. Burton and his supporters argued that he was selectively prosecuted, on the orders of President Theodore Roosevelt , for political reasons. Burton also became the first member of the United States Senate to be convicted of public corruption , in fact the first member of the Senate to be convicted of any crime.[3] The next year, Senator John H. Mitchell (R-OR) was convicted under the same statute for his role in the Oregon land fraud scandal .[4]

Contents

• 1 Background

  • 1.1 Rialto Co.'s matter

  • 1.2 Burton's representation

  • 1.3 Indictment

  • 1.4 Trial and conviction

• 2 Burton I (1905)

  • 2.1 Sufficiency of the indictment and the evidence

  • 2.2 Venue and vicinage

  • 2.3 Refused jury instructions

• 3 Retrial

• 4 Burton II (1906)

  • 4.1 Separation of powers

  • 4.2 Interests of the United States

  • 4.3 Sufficiency of the evidence

  • 4.4 Separate offenses of agreeing and receiving

  • 4.5 Double jeopardy

  • 4.6 Venue and vicinage

• 5 Aftermath

• 6 Role of President Roosevelt

• 7 Notes

• 8 Further reading

Background

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burton_v._United_States&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Background")

Rialto Co.'s matter

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burton_v._United_States&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Rialto Co.'s matter")

In 1872, Congress created the crime of mail fraud .[5] Rev. Stat. § 3929 authorized the United States Postmaster General , "upon evidence satisfactory to him" that mail fraud was being committed, to instruct the post master at the fraudster's local post office to return registered mail addressed to the fraudster to the sender with the word "Fraudulent" written or stamped on the envelope.[6] In 1895, this authority was extended to all mail.[7] Further, Rev. Stat. § 4041 authorized the Postmaster to also bar suspected fraudsters from cashing postal money orders .[8]

The Rialto Grain and Securities Company , whose principal place of business was in St. Louis , Missouri , was under investigation by the Postmaster for mail fraud.[9] The Postmaster had received two complaints and forwarded them for investigation on November 7, 1902.[10] State courts were also investigating complaints from investors against Rialto.[11] Hugh C. Dennis , the President of Rialto, and other officers had been criminally indicted, but (at the time of Burton's indictment) none had been convicted.[11] As of Burton's indictment, Dennis had been once acquitted in federal court and four indictments were pending against him in state courts.[11] For a time, Rialto's offices had been closed due to a judicial attachment by its creditors.[11]

Burton's representation

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burton_v._United_States&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Burton's representation")

Burton deposited his checks at Riggs National Bank .

That same month—while the two were in Illinois, en route from St. Louis to Chicago—former state judge Thomas B. Harlan , the general counsel of Rialto, arranged to hire Senator Joseph R. Burton (R-KS), a lawyer, to appear before the Postmaster as counsel for Rialto in connection with these investigations for a monthly salary of $500.[12] When the general counsel returned to St. Louis on November 18, he communicated Burton's offer to Rialto and Rialto accepted.[13] Rialto notified Burton of its acceptance by telegram to him in Washington that same day.[10]

Burton informed Rialto by mail that he had learned of the two complaints from the Postmaster, arranged for himself to be notified of any future complaints, and arranged to represent Rialto in a hearing before the Postmaster before any sanctions would issue.[10] Burton continued to represent Rialto before the Postmaster, and draw his monthly salary, for five months.[14] Burton's intervention was successful, and the Postmaster's investigation was ceased without the entry of a fraud order.[15]

Rialto paid Burton by monthly checks for the first four months. Burton received the first check on November 22.[16] Burton indorsed and deposited the checks at [Riggs National Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riggs_National_Bank "Riggs National Bank"

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