United States v. Massei

• Court: U.S. Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM
• Citation: United States v. Massei, 355 U.S. 595, 78 S.Ct. 495, 2 L.Ed.2d 517 (1958)
• Decision Date: 03 March 1958
• Docket Number: No. 98,98
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner, v. William V. MASSEI

355 U.S. 595

78 S.Ct. 495

2 L.Ed.2d 517

UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner,

v William V. MASSEI.

No. 98.

Argued Jan. 9, 1958.

Decided March 3, 1958.

Mr. Roger Fisher, Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Mr. Richard Maguire, Boston, Mass., for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

The Court of Appeals has based its remand in part on the absence of 'proof of likely source,' which it regards as an 'indispensable' element of the net worth method citing Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 75 S.Ct. 127, 99 L.Ed. 150, in support of its conclusion. In Holland we held that proof of a likely source was 'sufficient' to convict in a net worth case where the Government did not negative all the possible nontaxable sources of the alleged net worth increase. This was not intended to imply that proof of a likely source was necessary in every case. On the contrary, should all possible sources of nontaxable income be negatived, there would be no necessity for proof of a likely source. The above explanation must be taken into consideration in applying the Holland doctrine to ...