Wilson v. United States, 4958.

Decision Date03 January 1955
Docket NumberNo. 4958.,4958.
Citation218 F.2d 754
PartiesJohn F. WILSON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

James W. Wilson, Denver, Colo., for appellant.

Robert D. Inman, Asst. U. S. Atty., Boulder, Colo., for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and BRATTON and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

PICKETT, Circuit Judge.

The appellant, John F. Wilson, and Newton H. Moore were indicted and convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado for acquiring and having transferred to them and having in their possession three marihuana cigarette butts and two thousand eight hundred and twenty-two grains of bulk marihuana without having paid the transfer tax thereon required by law. 26 U.S.C.A. § 2593(a).1

Prior to trial, the appellant and his co-defendant filed a motion to suppress certain evidence which consisted of three marihuana cigarette butts and a "crutch" made out of a torn match book cover to hold the cigarette, on the ground that such evidence was procured through unlawful searches of Moore's automobile. This motion was denied. The motion was again presented at the trial and it was sustained as to one cigarette butt found during a second search, and denied as to the evidence obtained in the first search. A substantial portion of appellant's brief is directed to the action of the trial court in overruling this motion.

Prior to March 18, 1953, agents of the Bureau of Narcotics had information that the defendants would be traveling from Pueblo, Colorado to Denver, Colorado in Moore's Cadillac automobile and would be transporting marihuana. The Colorado Highway Patrol was requested to have patrolmen on the highway between Pueblo and Denver on the lookout for this automobile, and if they observed it, to notify agents of the Bureau of Narcotics. Some time prior to midnight on March 18, 1953, a patrolman observed the automobile traveling north toward Denver and followed it into the Town of Castle Rock. There he talked to the defendant Moore, who was driving, and gave him a ticket for a traffic violation. He then followed the automobile as it proceeded in a northerly direction toward Denver. The patrolman notified agents of the Bureau of Narcotics that the automobile was on the way to Denver, and that he would overtake it and stop it before it arrived in Denver.

After traveling some distance, Moore stopped the automobile and was in front of it when the highway patrolman approached. Moore told the patrolman that the stop had been made to change drivers, and to permit Wilson to drive the remaining distance to Denver. The patrolman made some search of the automobile immediately, but found nothing. Within a short time, the federal agents arrived and an additional search was made with the same result. The automobile was taken to a garage near the outskirts of Denver by the agents where, with Moore's assistance, it was searched further. Moore testified that he did not consent to the search but he "helped them search, I volunteered to help them search myself because I hadn't did anything". Two marihuana cigarette butts and the "crutch"2 were found in the automobile. Neither Moore nor Wilson was held at the time. A short time later, they were again stopped on the same highway leading into Denver from the south, and arrested after a chase by the same patrolman at a very high rate of speed. In another search of the automobile, the following morning, a third marihuana cigarette butt was found. All of the searches were made without a search warrant.

The assignment of error presents only the question of whether the search, in which the first two cigarette butts were found, was illegal in violation of Wilson's constitutional rights. United States Constitution, Amendment 4. The motion to suppress did not allege that the cigarette butts were the property of either Moore or Wilson, and neither claimed them. Wilson did not testify in support of the motion, and Moore did not contend that the cigarette butts were his. Instead, he maintained his innocence.

The law is well settled that the protection of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution against unreasonable search and seizure is personal to the one asserting it, and one who claims no proprietary or possessory interest in that which has been seized as a result of a search may not object to its introduction in evidence. Scoggins v. United States, 92 U.S.App.D.C. 29, 202 F.2d 211; Steeber v. United States, 10 Cir., 198 F.2d 615, 33 A.L.R.2d 1425; Lewis v. United States, 10 Cir., 92 F.2d 952; Williams v. United States, 10 Cir., 66 F.2d 868; Coon v. United States, 10 Cir., 36 F.2d 164; Shields v. United States, 58 App.D.C. 215, 26 F.2d 993, certiorari denied 278 U.S. 633, 49 S.Ct. 31, 73 L.Ed. 550.3

United States v. Jeffers, 342 U. S. 48, 72 S.Ct. 93, 95, 96 L.Ed. 59, cited by the appellant, is not to the contrary. In that case the defendant had access to a room occupied by two relatives. He left therein a substantial quantity of narcotics which was seized by officers who, in the absence of the occupants, gained entrance into the room without a search warrant. The Court held that Jeffers had standing to object to the search. It will be noted, however, that "he claimed ownership of the narcotics seized." The appellant contends that the question is not properly before this court because the trial court did not rule on the question. But the appellant made the motion to suppress and the burden was on him to prove the facts necessary to sustain his position. This he failed to do. Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S....

To continue reading

Request your trial
46 cases
  • Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 15, 1964
    ...is a fruit of the unlawfully obtained evidence, Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 60 S.Ct. 266, 84 L.Ed. 307; Wilson v. United States, 218 F.2d 754 (C.A.10th Cir.); Lotto v. United States, 157 F.2d 623 (C.A.8th Cir.), which proposition would seem a fortiori true where the Government h......
  • People v. Coleman
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • April 3, 1975
    ... ... Ed. 2d 368, 373-375, 90 S. Ct. 1068]; Coffin v. United States (1895) 156 U.S. 432, 453-456 [39 L. Ed. 481, 491-492, 15 S. Ct ... ( Wilson v. United States (10th Cir. 1955) 218 F.2d 754, 757; cf. Simmons v. United ... ...
  • Chin Kay v. United States, 17469.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • March 4, 1963
    ...F.2d 75-77; United States v. Warrington, D.C., 17 F.R.D. 25, 29; United States v. Okawa, D.C., 26 F.R.D. 384, 386; Wilson v. United States (10th Cir.), 218 F.2d 754, 757. In this case appellant not only failed to sustain his burden, he produced no proof to controvert the essential allegatio......
  • State v. Rees
    • United States
    • Iowa Supreme Court
    • January 11, 1966
    ...search, insufficiency of the affidavit for the warrant, or that a search was effected without lawful authority. Wilson v. United States (10 Cir.), 218 F.2d 754, 757, and Williams v. State, Okl.Cr., 291 P.2d 383. This done the burden is clearly upon the state to show what, if any, civil insp......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT