Richard A. Barber v. United States

TAMM, Circuit Judge

(dissenting):

I regret my inability to concur in the disposition of the case as it is prescribed in the majority opinion.

The jury which heard the case had ample opportunity to observe the defendant throughout the entire course of the trial. The jury heard all of the testimony of all of the witnesses insofar as it related to the identification of the defendant, and of course this evidence included all of the testimony relating to the presence or absence of freckles. With the defendant before them in the courtroom and with the all-powerful opportunity of observing the witnesses on the witness stand, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that this appellant was the perpetrator of the crime charged. To me it is basically unsound, on a record such as is before us in the present case, for appellate judges to substitute their judgment as to the weight in evidence of the facts in a particular case for that of a jury. I, therefore, dissent from the reversal of this case.