United States First Circuit

Conviction and sentence for drug trafficking is affirmed where: 1) the district court properly sustained the fifth amendment privilege asserted by the government informants, as defendant did not show that the informants had specific pieces of unprivileged information that would have substantially helped his defense; and 2) the court did not err in allowing the government to offer evidence of a earlier state court cocaine conviction of defendant in response to defendant's entrapment defense, as an entrapment claim allows the government to counter with evidence that the defendant was predisposed to commit the crime and past convictions are relevant to the assessment.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/22/2009
• Published 05/22/2009

Judges

• BOUDIN, Circuit Judge., Before BOUDIN, JOHN R. GIBSON, and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• James M. Falvey, by appointment of the court, with whom Law Office of James Falvey was on brief for appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Cynthia A. Young, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Michael J. Sullivan, United States Attorney, was on brief for appellee.