United States V. Vandetti

Appellant William J. Vandetti was indicted with six codefendants and charged with conducting an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1955. Appellant, who was not arraigned until the trial of the codefendants was in progress, was tried and convicted in a separate trial. On appeal he raises three issues: (1) whether it was prejudicial for the prosecutor to call his convicted codefendants as witnesses knowing that they would all assert their fifth amendment privileges and to require them to testify to the fact of their convictions; (2) whether there was error in admitting evidence of the relationship between one of the witnesses and certain codefendants; (3) and whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury verdict. It is the opinion of this Court that the conviction must be reversed and remanded for a new trial on the basis of the first issue.