Evening star., 1948-12-14


tanning evidence and confessions
appeared doomed today as the re-
suit OF three civil rights-strength-
ening Supreme Court decisions.
The court yesterday ruled:
/. BY a 5-4 decision that con-
fession obtained from a District
man convicted of grand larceny
was illegal because he was detained
and questioned 80 hours before be-
ing taken before a magistrate.
2. BY 6-3 decision that police
operated illegally when they forced
their way into a Washington ROOM
ing house and, by peeping over a
transom, gathered evidence to con-
vict two men of operating a
gambling book.
3. BY 6-3 decision that Penn
sylvania court unjustly rejected q
habeas corpus petition from a pris-
oner convicted of burglary, after he
had been held incommunicado for
two weeks and had gone to trial
without legal counsel.
Bolsters McNabb Decision.
The opinion on obtaining a con-
fession during illegal detention was
seen as strengthening the contro-
versial McNabb decision of a few
years ago, which held that confes-
sions cannot be used as evidence
where they were the plain result
of holding and questioning persons
without carrying them forthwith
before committing magistrate.
AS result of the McNabb decision
police here and elsewhere COM
planned they were handicapped be-
cause it was impossible to arraign
all suspects without thorough in
vestigations.
In the other Washington case
reversed by the high court, Earl H.
Mcdonald and Joseph P. Washing
ton were arrested two years ago by
police who pushed through a land
lady's bedroom window without q
search warrant and then peered into
the mems room to gather evidence
Mcdonald was sentenced to serve
from to IS months and Washing
ton go days.
Theft Conviction Reversed.
The illegal detention case which
cited the earlier McNabb decision
reversed the conviction of Andrew
Upshaw, colored, arrested June s
1947, for the theft of a watch. The
McNabb decision set free three
Tennessee brothers from whom a
murder confession had been OBJ
tanned following a long detention.
Since then, two United States
Court of Appeals opinions here had
tended to liberalize the higher court
Interpretation, giving police wider
range in questioning prisoners be-
fore they were formally charged
and arraigned. In one case, con-
fession was ruled admissible. even
though arraignment was slow, be-
cause it was obtained shortly after
the prisoner was arrested.
In the majority opinion by JUS
tice Black handed down yesterday,
the court said the arresting officer
admitted that Upshaw was ar
rested at 2 am. one Friday and did
not confess until 9 am. the follow
ing day.
The court said the officer ad-
mitted the man was not arraigned
sooner because he did not have
enough of a case for the court to
hold him and that If the Police
Court did hold him, the police
would lose custody and could no
longer question him. 10
,, Thus the arresting officer con-
ceded in effect that confessions here
were fruits Of wrong doing by the
police oficers," the opinion con.
tinued. He conceded more. He
admitted that the petitioner was
illegally detained for more than sc
hours for the very purpose of secur-
ing these challenged confessions. .
Justice Black added that "the
argument was made to the trial
court that this method of arresting
holding and questioning people on
mere StISpicion was in accorda nce