Janney v. United States

• Decision Date: 23 July 1953
• Docket Number: No. 6620.,6620.
• Citation: 206 F.2d 601
• Parties: JANNEY v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

206 F.2d 601 (1953)

JANNEY v. UNITED STATES.

No. 6620.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 11, 1953.

Decided July 23, 1953.

T. Barton Harrington and R. Palmer Ingram, Baltimore, Md., for appellant.

Thomas G. Gray, Asst. U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md. (Bernard J. Flynn, U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellee.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.

SOPER, Circuit Judge.

The question in this case is whether the actions of government agents in securing evidence which led to the conviction of Brown Janney of the unlawful possession of untaxed distilled spirits constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

A criminal information was filed against Janney charging that on December 21, 1952, near Rising Sun, Maryland, in violation of 26 U.S.C.A. § 2803 of the United States Revenue Code, he had in his possession 95 gallons of whiskey in containers which did not bear stamps showing the quantity of the distilled spirits therein, or the payment of internal revenue taxes thereon. At the outset of the trial the defendant waived the filing of an indictment, pleaded not guilty, consented to a trial before the judge without a jury, and filed a motion that the whiskey, which had been seized by the internal revenue agents of the United States at his farm in the vicinity of Rising Sun, be returned to him and that it be suppressed as evidence in the trial of the case on the ground that the officers entered upon his premises and seized the liquor without a search warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Evidence with respect to the seizure was taken and the judge being of the opinion that the seizure was lawful, overruled the motion. The case was then submitted to the judge on the merits and the defendant was convicted on evidence sufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty and having been twice before convicted of similar offenses, was sentenced to serve three years in prison and to pay a fine of $1,000. On this appeal the defendant asked that the judgment be reversed on the ground that the court erred in overruling the motion to suppress the evidence in view of the manner now to be described in which the seizure took place.

Janney maintains a 30 acre farm near Rising Sun, Maryland. The residence stands a few feet above and very close to the south side of a public highway. To the west of the house, standing further back from the highway, are a number of outbuildings of the farm. These buildings are situated on the east side of a wire fence which runs northerly from the highway about 100 feet west of the house. Still further to the west outside of but near to the fence in an open field stands a small dilapidated and unused hog pen. Between the house and the wire fence a private road runs from the highway into the yard in front of the outbuildings.

On December 21, 1952 certain internal revenue agents, who were acquainted with Janney's previous criminal record, determined to act upon certain information which led them to suspect that Janney was violating the federal liquor laws at his farm. Accordingly they arranged with one Charles Torain, a colored man, to drive to the farm in a government car and to buy some whiskey from Janney. At or about 7:30 P.M. three agents stationed themselves in automobiles in the vicinity and agent Muller, who played the chief part in the seizure, went to the scene of the crime on foot by entering a field one-half mile from the buildings. Proceeding thence through a corn field and swamp land he reached the hog pen and crouched beside it outside the fence to await developments. From his point of observation the back door and porch of the house, over which a light was burning, were in clear view. At the time he was in communication by handy-talkie radio with the other agents stationed nearby.

At 7:40 P.M. a Chevrolet car entered the driveway from the public road and Muller saw a colored man, who proved to be Torain, get out of the car and go to the back door of the house and knock on the door. In a little while he was admitted to the house and ten minutes later he came out with Janney, who carried a flashlight. Janney got into a Ford car that was parked in the yard, and moved it out of the way so that Torain could turn his car and back it up to the entrance of a barn. Inside the barn the agent could see a pick-up truck in which were visible to him a number of cases, such as are customarily used in the illicit liquor trade to pack one-half gallon fruit jars containing distilled spirits. The agent had already observed these cases by means of the light of passing automobiles which, on account of a curve in the road, shone directly into the barn as the cars passed on the highway. The distance from the hog pen to the truck loaded with the cartons was not over 35 feet. One of the two men at the barn carried one of the cartons to Torain's automobile and placed it in the rear compartment, and as he did so the agent heard the tinkle of glass jars...