United States v. Rabinowitz
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
As the opinion candidly concedes, reversal here requires us to do what the Supreme Court has so far carefully refrained from doing, namely, to overrule Harris v. United States, 331 U.S. 145, 67 S.Ct. 1098, 91 L.Ed. 1399. Since here the search was so much more restricted than that in the Harris case, we must in fact go further and repudiate what, as it seems to me, has been clearly permissible police
In frankness I must add -that, to me, a search within the limits here disclosed seems in the interest of -justice, rather than otherwise. Since a warrant had been obtained for the arrest of the accused, it is thought that he has- had all the benefit which an ex parte action by, usually, a minor federal official, a United States commissioner, can afford. The -formality of signing an additional legal document, a warrant for search, will not add more of deliberation or .concern for individual rights ,to the police activity. It is not a full answer to say that the officers must, a fortiori, have had time to procure such a warrant, for that overlooks the practical problems of foreseeability of all eventualities which they then have to face. Involved is not only the question of “identifying the property,” and of “particularly describing” it in advance, F.R.Cr.P. 41(c); and compare the former 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 613, 616 — I hope this becomes as simple a matter as my brothers indicate, although I have some misgivings — but the whole problem of whether the officers are to be confined to looking' for what they already know about or whether, instead, they may not remove what is before them in the culprit’s place of business and use it to show the extent and ramifications of a criminal course of conduct they had already uncovered. This decision must mean quite simply that no search without a warrant of even a business office can ever be made unless the arrest can also be made without a warrant. Since the pressure of public opinion compels police officers to secure convictions, at least of the obviously guilty, the practical answer will be to arrange for such arrests and such searches only, resulting in rather less than more protection of the individual in the long run. Moreover, while search of a man’s home is a serious infringement-of personal liberties, I do not believe a like view should be taken of a man’s place of business where acts of crime have already been found to have been committed by him.
See our analysis of past precedents in Matthews v. Correa, 2 Cir., 135 F.2d 534, and United States v. Lindenfeld, 2 Cir., 142 F.2d 829, certiorari denied 323 U.S. 761, 65 S.Ct. 89, 89 L.Ed. 609, relied on in the Harris case, 331 U.S. at pages 151, 152, 154, 67 S.Ct. at pages 1101, 1102, 1103, 91 L.Ed. 1399; and note the recent reinstatement of Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L. Ed. 543, 39 A.L.R. 790, in Brinegar v. United States, 69 S.Ct. 1302; and see 18 U.S.C.A. § 2236, formerly § 53a.
L. Hand, J., dissenting in Spector Motor Service v. Walsh, 2 Cir., 139 F.2d 809, 823, judgment vacated in Spector Motor Service v. McLaughlin, 323 U.S. 101, 65 S.Ct. 152, 89 L.Ed. 101.
Vinson, C. J., dissenting in Trupiane v. United States, 334 U.S. 699, 716, 69 S.Ct. 1229, 92 L.Ed. 1663.
Opinion of the Court
The defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction upon two counts of an indictment: the first, for selling' four altered postage stamps with intent that they should be “passed, published and used as true and genuine”; the second, for having in his possession 573 such stamps with intent to defraud. On the appeal he relies upon three alleged - errors: first, that to sell or possess the stamps in question was not a crime, because the fraud proved could .only have been upon stamp collectors and not upon the United States; second, that there was a fatal variance between the indictment and the evidence; third, that the stamps which were the Subject of the second count were obtained by an unlawful search and seizure. The facts, as the jury might have found them from the evidence, were as follows. On February 6,, 1943, the defendant, a seller of postage stamps to collectors, sold to an employee of the Post Office four cancelled stamps, across the face of which the defendant had caused to be printed what are known as “over-prints.” An “over-print” consists of letters, which, at times and for purposes not here material, the Post Office finds it convenient to print upon the face of some of an issue of postage stamps; and “over-printed” stamps have a scarcity value to collectors.. The defendant had taken stamps which had been isstied without “over-prints” and had been used and cancelled; and he had employed an engraver by means of forging plates to print “over-prints” over the cancellation marks. Based upon the purchase, a Post Office inspector on February 16th procured from a United States Commissioner a warrant for the arrest of the defendant; and in company with several others, he went to the defendant’s place of business, which consisted of a one room office, and arrested him. After making the arrest, the officials searched the office thoroughly for an hour and a half, opening filing cabinets, desk drawers and the like. Part of what they found they returned to the defendant; but they carried away 573 cancelled postage stamps with forged “over-prints,” like the four stamps purchased on the 6th; and it was the possession of these that the second count alleged as a crime.
The first question is whether the phrase, “with the intent that the same be
The second alleged error (that ■the pleading did not in detail forecast the evidence) reflects an attitude now long past. True, the allegations in an indictment must run enough in parallel with the evidence to identify the crime proved with that charged; but, that condition fulfilled, it is only necessary that the accused shall be well enough advised of the crime with which he is charged to prepare his defence; and that may be done by other means than the indictment. The first ten “forms,” incorporated into Rule 58 of the Criminal Rules, 18 U.S.C.A., are examples of the general terms now permissible; moreover, Rule 52(a) includes “variance” among “harmless error,” when it “does not affect substantial rights.” That had been the law before the Rules were promulgated;
The last question is of the legality of the search and seizure of the 573 stamps, whose possession was the crime charged in the second count. The officers’ entry and the arrest were concededly lawful; but was it a lawful incident of the arrest for the officers to search generally for any incriminating papers they might find in the defendant’s office? If it were not for the decision of the Supreme Court in Trupiano. v. United States
In the case at bar there was no excuse for not getling a search warrant. Already on February 1st the man, who had made the plates for the forged “overprints,” had been arrested and had confessed. He gave to the district attorney the defendant’s name as that of one of his customers; and apparently it was on this information that the four stamps had been bought on the 6th. The arrest was not until the 16th; and no reason is suggested why during the following ten days it had not been possible upon this information to get a search warrant. Moreover, the defendant was doing a steady business openly and without apprehension, so that there was no reasonable chance that the stamps would disappear. Finally, Rule 41(c) did not require the forged stamps to be “identified” more specifically than as cancelled stamps bearing “over-prints”;
We hold that the search was unlawful and it follows that the conviction on both counts must be reversed, and that the second count must be dismissed. The first count will be remanded for proceedings in accordance with the foregoing.
Judgment reversed; cause remanded.
United States v. Pappas, 2 Cir., 134 F.2d 922. (C.A. 2).
Foster v. United States, 10 Cir., 76 F.2d 183; Errington v. Hudspeth, 10 Cir., 110 F.2d 384, 127 A.L.R. 1467.
Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 55 S.Ct. 629, 79 L.Ed. 1314; United States v. Cohen, 2 Cir., 145 F.2d 82; United States v. Epstein, 2 Cir., 154 F.2d 808; Loper v. United States, 10 Cir., 160 F.2d 293.
334 U.S. 699, 68 S.Ct. 1229, 92 L.Ed. 1663.
331 U.S. 145, 67 S.Ct. 1098, 91 L.Ed. 1399.
334 U.S. 609, 08 S.Ct. 1229, 92 L.Ed. 1663.
2 Cir., 16 F.2d 202, 203, 51 A.L.R. 416.
Steele v. United States, No. 1, 267 U.S. 498, 45 S.Ct.. 414, 69 L.Ed. 757; United States v. Fitzmaurice, 2 Cir., 45 F.2d 333; Nuckols v. United States, 69 App.D.C. 120, 99 F.2d 353; Parts Manufacturing Corp. v. Lynch, 2 Cir., 129 F.2d 841, 143 A.L.R. 132.
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