William Nordeste v. United States

William Nordeste appeals from his conviction on six counts of a seven-count indictment charging him with selling, concealing, facilitating the sale, transportation and concealment, bartering and exchanging’ quantities of heroin on April 1 and 12, and June 2, 1965, in violation of the narcotic laws.

Nordeste, who did not take the witness stand, stipulated that he had done each of the acts alleged in the indictment. His sole defense at the trial was entrapment. On this appeal he argues that the charge to the jury on the issue of entrapment was prejudicially erroneous in three particulars and that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to negate the entrapment defense.

The evidence bearing upon this defense, considered in a light most favorable to the Government, shows the following: On April 1, 1965, Charles R. McDonnell, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and Porter White, a paid government informant, went to Nordeste’s house in Sacramento, California. White had been a paid informant for the government since early 1964. Sometime previous to April 1, 1965, White had been introduced to Nordeste by Gerald Osborne, and White had been in Nordeste’s home several…