United States v. Klaia, 236.

Decision Date08 April 1942
Docket NumberNo. 236.,236.
PartiesUNITED STATES v. KLAIA.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Thomas J. McKenna, of Buffalo, N. Y., for appellant.

Robert M. Hitchcock, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Buffalo, N. Y. (George L. Grobe, U. S. Atty., of Buffalo, N. Y., on the brief), for appellee.

Before AUGUSTUS N. HAND, CLARK, and FRANK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

We think the search warrant here under attack complied with the law. 18 U.S. C.A. §§ 613-616, 621, 622. The original was properly dated; that the date was inadvertently omitted from the copy was at most an error "of such a trivial nature that no resulting prejudice to the defendant is conceivable." Johnson v. United States, 6 Cir., 46 F.2d 7, 9. The description of the place of the search was adequate, referring, as it did, to a two-story frame house located on the south side of a certain drive in the town, being the "second premises west" of another named road. This was more or less open country; the place was the second house from the crossroad; and the officer could, "with reasonable effort, ascertain and identify the place intended," even though on the town's tax assessment rolls this was the fourth parcel when vacant land was included. Steele v. United States (No. 1), 267 U.S. 498, 503, 45 S.Ct. 414, 69 L.Ed. 757; United States v. Falcone, 2 Cir., 109 F.2d 579, 582, affirmed 311 U.S. 205, 61 S.Ct. 204, 85 L.Ed. 128. The facts recited in the warrant referring to a sale of wine established a violation of the statute, 26 U.S.C.A. Int. Rev.Code, § 3253. While this section does not specifically include a vendor of wine as a "retail liquor dealer," § 3254 does give that exact definition, "except as otherwise provided." To say that the enumeration in the earlier section is "as otherwise provided" is stultifying and would render this precise statutory definition nugatory. See Ledbetter v. United States, 170 U.S. 606, 610, 611, 18 S.Ct. 774, 42 L.Ed. 1162. The commissioner had probable cause to issue the warrant. Even without the affidavits not taken by him, the commissioner did have the investigators' own affidavits, showing, among other things, that a car was driven to the place, that various jugs and bottles were loaded therein, that these, as the officers found, actually contained wine, and that the place was not authorized by the issuance of stamp taxes to make wine sales. This was sufficient to warrant men of prudence and caution and experience in believing that the offense had...

To continue reading

Request your trial
7 cases
  • People v. Estrada
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • May 3, 1965
    ...States v. Thomas (D.C.N.D.Cal.1963) 216 F.Supp. 942, 946; United States v. Poppitt (D.C.Del.1964) 227 F.Supp. 73, 76; United States v. Klaia (2d Cir.1942) 127 F.2d 529, 530; United States v. Falcone (2d Cir.1940) 109 F.2d 579, However the requirement of the Fourth Amendment that a particula......
  • U.S. v. Maali
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida
    • August 8, 2004
    ...court "that the wording of the concluding paragraph in the warrant was the result of some sort of clerical error"); United States v. Klaia, 127 F.2d 529, 530 (2d Cir.1942) (finding omission of date from copy of search warrant was trivial and harmless where original was properly Moreover, an......
  • United States v. Joseph, Crim. No. 19673
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • June 12, 1959
    ...the place intended by reasonable effort. Steele v. United States, 1925, 267 U.S. 498, 45 S.Ct. 414, 69 L.Ed. 757; United States v. Klaia, 2 Cir., 1942, 127 F.2d 529. No showing was made that there was any adjoining building likely to be confused with the Joseph premises, regardless of which......
  • Steele v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • September 19, 1968
    ... ... United States, 267 U.S. 498(1), 45 S.Ct. 414, 69 L.Ed. 757. And see Sparks v. ited States, 6 Cir., 90 F.2d 61(6); United ... States v. Klaia, 2 Cir., 127 F.2d 529(2); Fine v. United States, 207 F.2d 324; M. T ... ...
  • 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