United States v. Dejohn

638 F.2d 1048 (7th Cir. 1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D lived at a YMCA in Chicago. Andy Spyropoulos, who owned a restaurant near the YMCA, testified that d cashed two United States Treasury checks, one on December 23, 1977, and the other about a week later. The payee on the first check (in the amount of $317) was Horace Palm, and the payee on the second check (in the amount of $311) was Timothy Lutes. Both resided at the same YMCA as D. Each testified that he never received the check on which he was named as payee. Neither victim knew D personally. The checks that were cashed bore forged endorsements of the respective payees. Spyropoulos did not ask D for identification or an endorsement when he cashed the checks. D did not forge the payees' signatures appearing on the checks. During trial, D objected to the testimony of certain prosecution witnesses, characterizing their testimony as 'bad acts' evidence prohibited by Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 403. The testimony was admitted. A YMCA security guard stated that he 'arrested' D when he found him behind a reception desk at the YMCA in violation of the establishment's rules. A Chicago police officer in the course of searching D at police headquarters on an occasion unrelated to the offense for which D was on trial, found checks, one of them a Treasury check, made out to a payee named Michael Dore. D told the officer that he had obtained the checks from a mailbox behind the reception desk and was holding them for safekeeping. No charges were filed against defendant as a result of the checks found in that search. D was convicted and appealed.