Wallace Eugene Current v. United States

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction based on a jury verdict on a two count indictment; the first charging the appellant with the illegal importation of marijuana, which should have been invoiced, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a, and the second, smuggling and clandestinely introducing merchandise (namely, amphetamine tablets) which should have been invoiced, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 545 . For a discussion of the difference between the “importation” or “bringing in” of merchandise, on the one hand, and “smuggling” or “clandestinely introducing” on the other, see United States v. Claybourn, D.C.S.D.Cal.1960, 180 F.Supp. 448 . Jurisdiction below was based on 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . Jurisdiction here is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 1294(1).

The appellant was stopped at the Mexican border, when crossing into the United States. Upon questioning, he denied he was bringing “anything” across, and upon search, the marijuana and the pills were discovered in his vehicle. Two pounds one ounce of marijuana was discovered inside the right front door of his automobile, after two hundred and sixty amphetamine tablets and a single marijuana cigarette were found on his person, and a…