United States v. Richard Virgil Bibbero, Jr., United States of America v. James Paul Marshall

Richard Virgil Bibbero, Jr. and James Paul Marshall were convicted in a jury trial of various drug smuggling charges. On appeal, they raise issues concerning proof of the alleged conspiracy, non-disclosure of relevant information held by the government, and admission of certain evidence. We hold that defendants were entitled to disclosure of certain additional material held by the government and that hearsay testimony of a co-conspirator was erroneously admitted. For these reasons we reverse and remand.

I. FACTS

The evidence, considered in the light most favorable to the government, proved the following sequence of events:

In 1972, Louis Villar, Edward Otero, Paul Aeree, and Lance Weber agreed to work as partners for the purpose of smuggling and distributing marijuana. This partnership became known as the Coronado Company. In its early years, this partnership conducted smuggling operations on a relatively small scale. As the size of the loads increased, employees were hired to help with the off-loading part of the operation. In 1977, Bob Lahodny joined the Company, replacing Weber as a partner.

Late in 1979, the Company began to plan a fifth smuggling operation. Lahodny…