This assumes that the interpretation advanced by appellant is a plausible one. As we note later, this is a question upon which we entertain great doubt. In United States v. Cash, 522 F.2d 1025 (9th Cir. 1975), this court approached the problem from a different angle. There it was held that the critical inquiry is as to the meaning attached to the question by the accused.
In reversing the conviction, the Ninth Circuit adopted Judge Ely's analysis that the only proper interpretation was the grammatically correct one and that there was no evidence that the defendant understood the question in a manner inconsistent with proper English usage. The Cook decision was followed by United States v. Cash, 522 F.2d 1025 (9th Cir. 1975) where the Ninth Circuit confronted a slightly different question than the one presented in Cook. In Cash, the defendant contended that the government's question was ambiguous and that, under his construction of the question, his response was literally true.
Appellant additionally contends that the statements set out in Count Two and Count Five constitute literally true but perhaps unresponsive declarations, which pursuant to United States v. Bronston, 409 U.S. 352, 93 S.Ct. 595, 34 L.Ed.2d 568 (1973), are not to be remedied by prosecution for perjury. Bronston requires that the questioner press upon the witness precise and simple questions designed to reveal the ambiguity or unresponsiveness of previous answers and prohibits the substitution of prosecution for perjury for this technique. See United States v. Cash, 522 F.2d 1025 (9th Cir. 1975). The questions asked which are the concern of Counts Two and Five are precise, simple, direct, and unequivocal.