United States v. Jose Rodriguez

Appellant was tried on an indictment charging that he “did unlawfully, wilfully and knowingly embezzle a package which had come into his possession, and was intended to be conveyed by mail” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1709. Appellant’s defense, in addition to an attack on the credibility of the Government’s witnesses, was that even under the state of facts testified to by the Government witnesses, the “decoy” parcel in question either was not, or at least might not have been, “intended to be conveyed by mail,” and that a critical element of the Government’s case was therefore lacking. On this…