new and used pickup trucks were stolen from truck dealerships and individuals in various locations in Tennessee.  On May 9, 1987, pursuant to a search warrant, Mississippi and Tennessee highway police searched the premises of defendant Gene Davis in Prentiss County, Mississippi and discovered and seized a number of apparently new trucks and vehicle parts in a wooded area several hundred feet behind his house.  Investigation revealed that a number of the parts belonged to vehicles which had been stolen in Tennessee and Alabama.  Davis and White, along with several other persons, were subsequently arrested.  The other co-defendants pled guilty through a plea bargain before trial.  At trial, one of them, William Howard, testified that he, White, and co-defendants Tommy Stout and RandallKeith James stole the trucks on order and delivered them to co-defendant Ellis Davis, Gene's brother, at the former's residence in Corinth, Mississippi.  James also testified.  He stated that he had sometimes enlisted two minors to steal trucks for him, and on another occasion had paid co-defendant Theodore Siler, an employee at a Ford dealership, for keys to two new trucks, which were then stolen.


3
On appeal, Davis contends that his defense was prejudiced by the government's improper mention of certain fingerprint evidence.  In examining one of the Tennessee highway patrol officers who had participated in the search of Gene Davis's premises, the government asked if any fingerprints had been recovered from the articles seized.  Counsel for Davis objected.  In a hearing outside the