James Stewart Bettis and Robert Edward Nelson, III v. United States

Appellants were convicted on a joint charge of bringing 22 pounds of marihuana into the United States from Mexico in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a. We affirm as to appellant Bettis, but reverse as to appellant Nelson.

The marihuana was discovered by customs officers in a routine search of an automobile at the port of entry at No-gales, Arizona, where the car had crossed the border. Bettis was driving and Nelson was riding in the car. Thirteen foil-wrapped packages of marihuana were found under the back seat and the rest in loose form in a gunnysack inside a sleeping bag in the trunk of the car. Both Bettis and Nelson claimed to have no knowledge of the presence of the marihuana.

Bettis had set out from Mazatlan, Mexico, on the day before, purportedly headed for Los Angeles, California, with Nelson and two other youths riding along in the car. None of the three passengers is shown to have had a personal associationship with Bettis at Mazatlan prior to the making of the riding arrangements. All four had however been staying at the beach there, in one of those casual accumulations which seem to spring up among the youth of today. There was available to them at Mazatlan for sleeping…