Harris v. United States (331 U.S. 145)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 5, 1947 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 331 U.S. 145 · 67 S. Ct. 1098
- Decided
- May 5, 1947
- Term
- October Term 1946
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner was convicted on sixteen counts of an indictment charging the unlawful possession, concealment and alteration of certain Notice of Classification Cards and Registration Certificates in violation of § 11 of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, and of § 48 of the Criminal Code. Prior to the trial, petitioner moved to suppress the evidence, which served as the basis for the conviction, on the grounds that it had been obtained by means of an unreasonable search and seizure contrary to the provisions of the Fourth Amendment and that to permit the introduction of that evidence would be to violate the self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment. The motion to suppress was denied, and petitioner’s numerous objections to the evidence at the trial were overruled. The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. 151 F. 2d 837. Certiorari was granted because of the importance of the questions presented. Two valid warrants of arrest were issued. One charged that petitioner and one Moffett had violated the Mail Fraud Statute by causing a letter addressed to the Guaranty Trust Company of New York to be placed in the mails for the purpose of cashing a forged check for $25,000.00 drawn on the Mudge Oil Company in pursuance of a scheme to defraud. The second warrant charged that petitioner and Moffett,…
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