United States v. Flavio Humberto Trabucco

WISDOM, Circuit Judge.

This direct criminal appeal raises questions of probable cause for a war-rantless arrest, admissibility of a confession, proof of the corpus delicti, and correctness of jury instructions. The question of probable cause is close; the confession question unusual because of the defendant’s language barrier and cultural background; and the issue of jury instructions complicated by a recent Supreme Court ruling. But after close consideration we affirm the conviction.

I

Customs agents and other law enforcement officers 1 took Flavio Humberto Trabucco, a Chilean seaman, into…