United States v. Thomas
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
916 F.2d 647 (1990)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
Antonio Thomas (defendant), an attorney, testified in a civil action brought by the state of Georgia seeking forfeiture of funds allegedly derived from an illegal drug-trafficking operation run by Rolland Callahan Jr. Thomas was subsequently indicted on various counts relating to Callahan’s operation. An obstruction-of-justice count alleged that Thomas had violated 18 U.S.C. § 1503 by testifying falsely in the civil forfeiture trial with knowledge of a pending grand jury investigation. The charge was based on Thomas’s testimony that he knew Callahan, had never known him by any other name, had never known him by the name Robert Johnson, and did not recall introducing him to anyone as Johnson. The government (plaintiff) introduced evidence that Thomas had represented Callahan in connection with a home-construction contract, had signed the contract as attorney for Robert Johnson, and had not corrected the contractor when the contractor referred to Callahan and his wife as Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. Thomas was convicted of obstruction and appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence that his allegedly false testimony had the effect of obstructing justice.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kravitch, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.