United States v. Noriega

Manuel Noriega (defendant), the former Panamanian military commander, was indicted on drug-trafficking charges after allegedly using his position to help traffic cocaine into the United States, and was eventually brought to trial in Miami. To rebut the government's argument that his wealth was unexplained, Noriega sought to introduce evidence about intelligence work he claimed to have performed for the United States, contending the U.S. paid him $10 million for these tasks. The district court excluded evidence about the nature and purpose of those alleged intelligence tasks as irrelevant and likely to confuse the jury, while still allowing Noriega to present evidence of the fact, amount, timing, source, and method of any money he received from the United States. The jury convicted Noriega, and he appealed.