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verdict of guilty was necessarily rendered. Commissioner v.
Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591 (1948).
In petitioner’s criminal trial, the judge instructed the
jury that in order to find petitioner guilty of conspiracy, the
jury had to find, among other things:
Secondly, that * * * [petitioner] intentionally,
willfully, became a member of that conspiracy;
That thereafter one of the conspirators committed
at least one - not all, but at least one - of the overt
acts charged in the indictment at or about the time and
place alleged;
Fourth, that such overt act was done in
furtherance of some object or purpose of the
conspiracy; and
Fifth, that one of the conspirators did something
on or after February 4, 1981, to further some aspect of
the conspiracy, that is, to accomplish one or more of
its purposes. [Emphasis added.]
There are 55 overt acts found in the bill of indictment relating
to the count of conspiracy. The large majority of those acts are
not bribery payments to petitioner. Some of the acts are bribe
payments from Toll to Suval which occurred after February 4,
1981. Some of the acts are meetings between Toll and Suval which
occurred after February 4, 1981. In order to reach the verdict,
the jury was only required to find that one of the conspirators--
Toll, Suval, or petitioner--performed one of these 55 overt acts,
and that one of the conspirators did something to further the
conspiracy after February 4, 1981. The jury was not, however,
required to find that petitioner actually received bribe payments
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