United States v. Manuel Luis Cordova

Appellant was convicted by a jury of a one-count violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a. The case was relatively simple. The only real issue was appellant’s knowledge of the presence of marihuana in the car. It is undisputed that on the evening of October 20, 1968, appellant entered the United States at the Calexi-co border station driving a 1962 Falcon automobile. He told Customs Agent Pitt that he had nothing to declare. A search of the car by Agent Pitt revealed 37 kilo bricks of marihuana under and behind the rear seat. Appellant contended that he did not know of the presence of the marihuana. The jury, by its verdict of guilty, found that he did.

Appellant makes numerous contentions in this appeal. Five alleged errors merit discussion. (1) Was appellant’s privilege against self-incrimination violated by cross-examination about his failure to cooperate with government authorities? (2) Was appellant wrongly prejudiced by the admission of evidence that he had not told customs agents certain facts as to which he testified at trial? (3) Did the United States attorney commit reversible error in closing argument by suggesting that a fellow smuggler had wanted to tell “the whole story” to…