Pereira et al. v. United States (347 U.S. 1)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 1, 1954 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 347 U.S. 1 · 74 S. Ct. 358
- Decided
- February 1, 1954
- Term
- October Term 1953
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority author
- Justice Warren
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Warren delivered the opinion of the Court. The petitioners, Pereira and Brading, were convicted in the District Court for the Western District of Texas under three counts of an indictment charging violation of the mail fraud statute, 18 U. S. C. (Supp. V) § 1341, violation of the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U. S. C. (Supp. V) § 2314, and a conspiracy to commit the aforesaid substantive offenses, 18 U. S. C. (Supp. V) § 371. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed. 202 F. 2d 830. This Court granted certiorari to consider questions which are important to the proper administration of criminal justice in the federal courts. 345 U. S. 990. On April 19, 1951, Mrs. Gertrude Joyce, a wealthy widow, fifty-six years old, and her younger half-sister, Miss Katherine Joyner, were accosted by the petitioner Brading as they were about to enter a hotel in El Paso, Texas. Mrs. Joyce and her sister had just arrived from their home in Roswell, New Mexico, and were preparing to register at the hotel. Brading identified himself, assisted them in parking their car, and invited them into the hotel bar to meet a friend of his. They accepted. The friend was petitioner Pereira, thirty-three years of age. After a few drinks, the men suggested that they all go to Juarez for dinner. The women accepted, and after dinner visited some night clubs with the petitioners.…
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