United States v. Clifford Hersh

Appellant Clifford Hersh was tried under a three-count indictment involving two counts of sale of dangerous drugs and one count of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs. He was found guilty on the conspiracy count, and appeals from the judgment and sentence entered upon the verdict of guilt.

There are two main assignments of error on appeal. The first is that the trial court incorrectly denied appellant’s Motion to Suppress certain evidence gathered as a result of a search conducted by law enforcement officials on March 6, 1969'at Yountville, Napa County, California. The second is that the appellant was denied a fair trial because of the prosecutor’s repeated reference to one Brovko, who did not testify.

March 6, 1969, two deputy sheriffs of Napa County visited a house in Yountville after receiving information from a roof repairman, McGregor, that he was suspicious that a laboratory was being operated on premises where he had made some roof repairs. The deputies did not have a search warrant. They knocked on the front door, but no one was home. While standing on the front porch, they peered through a window which was only partially covered with a drape. They saw oxygen tanks,…