United States v. Beechum

582 F.2d 898 (5th. Cir. 1978)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Beechum (D) was a substitute mail carrier. He was convicted of unlawfully possessing a silver dollar which he knew had been stolen from the mail. When he was arrested, he had in his wallet two Sears credit cards that belonged to other people, and that had also been stolen from the mail. This evidence was offered as proof that D had the criminal intent to keep the silver dollar. On appeal, it was held that the elements of the offense charged must be proved before an extrinsic offense could be introduced to show criminal intent.