Lewis Chatman v. United States

Appellant was charged in three counts with the sale of cocaine on October 24, 1967, October 25, 1967, and November 7, 1967, respectively, in violation of 26 TJ.S.C. § 4705(a). In a jury trial he was acquitted on Count I and convicted on Counts II and III. A sentence of five years was imposed on each of the two counts, to run concurrently.

Appellant urges as error (1) failure of his retained trial counsel to (a) rely upon the defense of entrapment and (b) offer instructions or object to those given; (2) failure of the trial court to (a) direct a verdict of acquittal on the ground that entrapment was established as a matter of law or (b) instruct the jury on entrapment; and (3) misconduct of the prosecutor in his closing argument.

George Heard, a federal narcotics agent, testified that he first met appellant on October 24, 1967, when he went to appellant’s home, following a telephone call in which an informant, Otis Warren, asked someone called “Little Brother” if “he had the things they were talking about earlier” and said that he had a friend who wanted to make a purchase. Upon arriving at appellant’s apartment, Heard told appellant he had come to pick up the package Warren had…