Clinton Thiel Stephens v. United States

The appellant was tried and convicted of violating the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1341. ' He seeks a reversal because: (1) his motion for a judgment of acquittal made at the conclusion of the Government’s case was not granted; and (2) an alleged fatal variance between the evidence and the charge contained in the indictment.

When the motion for acquittal was made, the trial judge reserved his ruling until the conclusion of the evidence. The motion was not renewed and there was no ruling on it. In these circumstances we must consider the state of the evidence when the motion was made. The…