United States v. DiMaria
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
727 F.2d 265 (1984)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
A hijacked truck containing 950 stolen cases of cigarettes was recovered by law enforcement as the cigarettes were being unloaded. Leonard DiMaria (defendant) was at the scene and was charged with possession of stolen cigarettes and conspiracy, among other things. At trial, DiMaria sought to elicit testimony from one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who was on the scene that DiMaria had told the agent that he “only came here to get some cigarettes real cheap.” DiMaria’s position was that by “real cheap,” he meant bootleg cigarettes, not stolen cigarettes. The trial court upheld the hearsay objection of the prosecution (plaintiff) and excluded DiMaria’s out-of-court statement. DiMaria was convicted, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Friendly, J.)
Dissent (Mansfield, J.)
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