Ruben Hernandez v. United States

Appellant was found guilty by a jury of the crime of concealing and facilitating the transportation and concealment of heroin ( 21 U.S.C. § 174 ) as charged in a one count indictment.

On this appeal he does not dispute the fact that at the time of his arrest for drunken driving the officers, pursuant to the incidental search of his automobile, discovered several packages containing heroin beneath the front seat. His sole assignment is that the trial judge erred in permitting the government on its case in chief to introduce evidence, over objection, that approximately five months earlier heroin similarly packaged was found in the trunk of his automobile under the floor mat.

The statute renders unlawful the concealment etc. of heroin known to have been unlawfully imported into the United States and makes proof of possession of the drug sufficient evidence to authorize a conviction unless the defendant explains the possession to the satisfaction of the jury. Here the evidence was admitted, under the judge’s limiting instruction to the jury, solely upon the issue of defendant’s knowledge and intent on the crime charged. In presenting its case, the government relied upon the…