Bruno v. United States

In affirming the conviction of Jerry Bruno, who, with eighty-seven others, was convicted of a conspiracy to violate the narcotic laws, the Cireüit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, dealt with an important question in the administration of federal criminal justice in such a way as to lead us to grant certiorari.

Some of Bruno’s co-defendants took the witness-stand. He did not. The trial court gave the following instructions to the jury regarding the attitude to be observed by them towards the accused as a witness:

“It is the privilege of a defendant to testify as a witness if, and only…