United States v. Alan David Passaro

This is an appeal from a conviction for manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance.

On June 7, 1978, Defendant Passaro was indicted along with three others, on charges of manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 846. On February 9, 1979, Co-defendants Lopez and Prince entered pleas of guilty to Count I of the indictment, charging conspiracy to manufacture, while Co-defendant Stefenel entered a plea to a misdemeanor charge of possession of amphetamine following a plea agreement pursuant to which he agreed to testify at Passaro’s trial.

On February 26, 1979, before the commencement of trial, the court heard an in limine motion to suppress a photocopy of a document removed from Passaro’s wallet after his arrest on March 26, 1978, for assault and battery of police officers who had stopped him for a speeding violation. After denial of the motion, the ten-day trial began and on March 13, 1979, the jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts. During the jury deliberations the court heard argument on and denied defendant’s motion for mistrial, alleging prosecutorial comment on defendant’s failure to…