United States v. Vitale
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
549 F.2d 71 (1977)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Juanita Vitale (defendant) was charged with selling drugs to Officer Zinselmeier, an undercover police officer. Zinselmeier called a residence and a woman identifying herself as Vitale answered and arranged to sell Zinselmeier drugs in a parking lot. During the call, the woman described herself and the car she would be in. An hour later, Vitale, who matched the physical description given and was in the car described in the phone call, met Zinselmeier in the agreed upon parking lot and sold him the drugs. At trial, Zinselmeier identified the voice on the initial phone call as Vitale’s. Zinselmeier testified that he had spoken with Vitale three times, that he could identify her voice, and that the voice on the phone was hers. The trial court overruled Vitale’s objection to Zinselmeier’s testimony and convicted Vitale. She appealed on the grounds that Zinselmeier had never spoken to her prior to the phone call and thus he could not have been able to identify her voice when the initial call was made.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per Curiam)
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