United States v. Gerald Ronald Guthrie, United States of America v. Albert Otis Haden

SOBELOFF, Circuit Judge:

The legal sufficiency of an indictment for violating 18 U.S.C. § 912 is the primary issue raised by defendant-appellants Haden and Guthrie. That section provides :

“Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the United States or any department, agency or officer thereof, and [1] acts as such, or [2] in such pretended character demands or obtains any money, paper, document, or thing of value, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” 1

The evidence showed that Haden, flashing…