Evening star., 1947-05-06
CouIi Jusfiiies Search
OF Home al Time
Arrest IS Made

SaaS x<s&0tlky HI tklS 0uHt clllG NUuEthl
sanction cf conviction Of ii man on
evidence found Lii his home without
d search warrant after his arrest on
another charge. yesterday held that
the search was Justified since eyi-l
dence 1ound showed i crime being
[commitfed In the ofIicers' presence.
The high court split, 5-to-4. ir|
the bitterly contested decision hand
ed down yesterday afternoon. The
case grew out Of the arrest Of George
Harris, m Oklahoma man, who was
charged BY Federal Bureau Of In
vestigation agents Of violating the
mail fraud statute and the National
Stolen Property Act. based on the
mailing cf o $25, 900 check alleged
to have been stolen.
Aftersa search Of his home re-
vealed evidence OF Sclectiye Service
Act violations, Harris was arrested
and convicted on the latter charge 1
Cali Ruling Threat TO Home.
Dissenting Justices contended that
the rtllpg destroys the protection Of
the search and seizure provisions Of
the Constitution for any person ar
rested at his home. Justice Vinson
held that the finding Of evidence
unrelated to the charge contained
in the warrant was immaterial.
On the basis Of papers found In
Harris home he was convicted and
sentenced to five years imprison-
|ment on charges Of unlawful posses
sion OF an altered notice OF draft
classification and concealment Of
other selective service cards and
certificates.
Justices Frankfurter, Murphy
Jackson and Rutledge dissented from
the Supreme Court majority deci-
sion upholding Harris conviction.
Recall Revolutionary War Ideals.
Charging the ruling offers serious
threats to basic liberties" the
minority harked back to the Revo-
lutionary War and the rights for
which 1t was fought.
Justice Murphy declared:
To-day has resurrected and ap-
proved, in effect, the use OF the
otdious general warrant or writ
|of assistance presumably outlawed
forever from our society,"
Justice Vinson, however, made a
sharp distinction between seizure
|of merely evidential materials"
which can be taken only under a
search warrant, and such objects
as the means for committing crime,
loot, weapons and property Of which
the possession is a crime itself.
Nothing Found In Check Case.
The charges on which Harris was
convicted were based on discovery,
after five hours of search, OF an en-
velope marked personal papers"
and containing cards and certifi-
Gates, some Of which the FBI men
said had been stolen from local
draft board.
The court minority observed that
nothing was found bearing directly
on the check case, and that the
check case itself has never come
to court.
In the search and seizure case,
the FBI agents said they searched
Harris apartment for two $4,000
Cancelled checks of the Nudge OIL
Co. which had been stolen from
the company's offices and which they
thought had been used In forging
. $25 900 check on the Nudge Co.
They said they also were looking
for ANY means that might be used
to commit these two crimes, such
as burglary tools, pens, or anything
that could be used in a confidence
game Of this type"
Circuit Court Ruling Upheld.
The high court majority upheld
9 Circuit Court finding that the
search was carried out in good faith
Tor the purposes asserted, that 1t
was not general exploratory
for merely evidentiary materials,
and that the search and seizure
were q reasonable incident to petit
toners arrest"
Justice Frankfurter contended the
decision goes far beyond previous
ruling to permit "rummaging
through house without a search
warrant on the ostensible ground
OF looking for the instruments Of al
crime for which an arrest, but only
an arrest, has been authorized"
by this reasoning" he said,
every Illegal search and seizure
may be validated II the police find |
evidence Of q crime"
He, declared that If the agents
had had warrant to look for the
checks, they could not have seized
other items they found, and con-
cluded:
The courts decision achieves the
novel and startling result OF max.
ing the scope Of search without
warrant broader than an author
lied search"
Justice Murphy in another dis