United States v. Beacon Brass Co., Inc. et al. (344 U.S. 43)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 10, 1952 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 344 U.S. 43 · 73 S. Ct. 77
- Docket
- No. 30
- Argued
- October 23, 1952
- Decided
- November 10, 1952
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Minton
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Minton (wrote), Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Douglas, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed
- Dissenting
- Justice Black (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Minton delivered the opinion of the Court. On March 16, 1951, a one-count indictment was returned in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the appellees, Beacon Brass Company, a corporation, and Maurice Feinberg, its president and treasurer. The indictment charged that in violation of § 145 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 40 Stat. 1085, as amended, 26 U. S. C. § 145 (b), the appel-lees had willfully attempted to evade taxes by making false statements to Treasury representatives on October 24, 1945, “for the purpose of supporting, ratifying, confirming and concealing the fraudulent and incorrect statements and representations made in the corporate tax return of said Beacon Brass Co., Inc., for the fiscal period ending October 31, 1944, filed on or about January 5, 1945 . . . Section 145 (b) provides in pertinent part: “[A]ny person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this chapter or the payment thereof, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony ... .” (Emphasis supplied.) The six-year limitation period, 43 Stat. 341, 342, as amended, 26 U. S. C. § 3748 (a) (2), applicable to offenses under this statute, had expired on a charge for filing a false tax return in January 1945, but it had not expired on a charge of making false statements to Treasury…
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