United States v. Robert Wayne Johnson

Appellant was convicted of knowingly and intentionally importing marijuana into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 (a) and 960(a)(1) and of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). On appeal he argues that the trial court erred (1) in requiring production for use by defense counsel of only the case report submitted by the arresting Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) agent, who was a Government witness, but not his handwritten notes of the arrest and interview of appellant; (2) in refusing to require production of the automobile which appellant was driving at the time of his arrest; and (3) in admitting the marijuana into evidence. We find no merit in appellant’s second and third specifications of error but we vacate the judgment and remand the case for a further hearing on the Jencks Act question.

It is now well established that individual “notes and reports” of agents of the Government who testify for the Government, made in the course of a criminal investigation, are the proper subject of inquiry and may be subject to production under the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500 . Lewis v. United States,…