Regino Barba-Reyes v. United States

Following trial to a jury appellant was convicted on a one count indictment charging that appellant, with intent to defraud the United States, knowingly concealed and facilitated the transportation and concealment of approximately ninety (90) pounds of marijuana which appellant then knew had been imported into the United States contrary to the provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 176a. He was committed to the custody of the Attorney General for a period of five years.

Appellant specifies as errors:

(1) That the district court erred: (a) in admitting into evidence marijuana found in the automobile which appellant was driving and in which he was the sole occupant, which marijuana was alleged to have been taken from the automobile in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and (b) in its “conduct before the jury by assuming the role of prosecutor;” and

(2) That the evidence is insufficient to justify the conviction.

The record discloses that appellant, a citizen of the Republic of Mexico, while driving a 1955 Buick automobile in a northerly direction, was stopped at the Immigration and Customs checkpoint about eighteen miles north of…