Pederson v. United States, 21729.
| Decision Date | 26 March 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 21729.,21729. |
| Citation | 392 F.2d 41 |
| Parties | Robert Norman PEDERSON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Michael W. Rotberg (argued), of Boyko & Simmons, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant.
Theodore Orliss (argued), Asst. U. S. Atty., William M. Byrne, Jr., U. S. Atty., Robert L. Brosio, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Criminal Div., Gabriel A. Gutierrez, Asst. U. S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.
Before ELY and CARTER, Circuit Judges, and CARR, District Judge.
This is an appeal from a conviction on a four-count indictment charging conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; concealment and transportation of amphetamine sulfate tablets and barbiturate capsules, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 545; and possession of stimulant or depressant drugs, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(q) (3) and 360a(c).
Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient and, in particular, it failed to establish a corpus delicti.
In the latter part of May 1966, Customs Agent David F. Burnett learned from an informant that he had been hired by an unidentified male Mexican to drive a 1955 Mercury automobile, California License No. GIX 090, equipped with a gasoline tank with a false compartment containing pills, from Tijuana, Mexico to a Sam's Restaurant in Huntington Beach, California. The informant had been instructed to park the automobile in the parking lot of the restaurant. There, supposedly, he was to wait one hour and then he would find $100.00 in the car.
On May 31, 1966, Agent Burnett observed the Mercury driven by informant enter the United States through the Port of San Ysidro, California. Thereafter, surveillance on the Mercury was maintained as it proceeded north on Pacific Coast Highway. During the trip Agent Burnett inspected the automobile by kicking the gas tank, and determined that there was a rattle which appeared to sound like pills or small articles. On the trip the Mercury stopped for gas every 35 or 40 miles. At San Clemente, California, the Mercury was placed on a hoist and the gas tank inspected. Again Agent Burnett heard the rattle of what he concluded were pills.
Upon arrival at Sam's Restaurant in Huntington Beach, the Mercury was parked in the parking lot at approximately 5:25 p. m. The informant went into the restaurant. At approximately 5:35 p. m., two agents observed a white Ford Ranchero, California License No. NWG 629, drive by the restaurant and park across the street. The two occupants left the truck and went into the Chicken Coop Restaurant. The driver was appellant Robert Norman Pederson and the passenger was co-defendant Jerry Wayne Clark. These two men came out of the Chicken Coop Restaurant and drove north on Pacific Coast Highway.
At approximately 6:30 p. m., the Ranchero truck returned, being driven by appellant, and stopped alongside the Mercury. The co-defendant got out of the truck, got into the Mercury and drove away. Appellant followed closely in the truck.
Customs Agents continued to maintain surveillance...
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