United States v. Noveck, No. 169
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | BUTLER |
| Citation | 46 S.Ct. 476,70 L.Ed. 904,271 U.S. 201 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. NOVECK |
| Docket Number | No. 169 |
| Decision Date | 10 May 1926 |
v.
NOVECK.
Mr. Assistant Attorney General Donovan, for the United States.
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Mr. Ben A. Matthews, of New York City, for defendant in error.
Mr. Justice BUTLER delivered the opinion of the Court.
Defendant in error was indicted November 5, 1923. The first count alleges the commission of perjury on March 13, 1920-more than three years before indictment. The District Court quashed that count on the ground that the prosecution was barred by the statute of limitations. The case is here under the Criminal Appeals Act of 1907, c. 2564, 34 Stat. 1246 (Comp. St. § 1704).
The count charges 'the crime of perjury as defined by section 125 of the United States Criminal Code.' That section provides:
'Whoever, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, shall willfully and contrary to such oath state or subscribe any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury. * * *' 35 Stat. 1088, 1111 (Comp. St. § 10295).
The substance of the charge is that defendant in error on oath stated that the income tax due from S. Noveck & Co., Inc., for 1919, was $1,484.84 on an income of $16,251.66, whereas in fact the tax due was $45,664.91 on an income of $124,127.13. And it is alleged that the perjury was committed 'for the purpose of defrauding the United States.'
Section 1044 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of November 17, 1921, c. 124, 42 Stat. 220 (Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1923, § 1708), provides:
'No person shall be prosecuted, * * * for any offense, not capital, except as provided in section 1046, unless the indictment is found, * * * within three years next after such offense shall have been committed: Provided, however, that in offenses involving the defrauding or attempts to defraud the United States * * * the period
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of limitation shall be six years.'
The amendatory act added the proviso. Section 1046, Revised Statutes (Comp. St. § 1710), declares that no person shall be prosecuted for any crime arising under the revenue laws unless the indictment is found within five years after the committing of such crime. Act July...
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...285 U.S. 518, 52 S.Ct. 416, 76 L.Ed. 917; United States v. McElvain, 272 U.S. 633, 47 S.Ct. 219, 71 L.Ed. 451; United States v. Noveck, 271 U.S. 201, 46 S.Ct. 476, 70 L.Ed. 904. See also, Braverman v. United States, 317 U.S. 49, 54—55, 63 S.Ct. 99, 102, 87 L.Ed. 23, and United States v. Coh......
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United States v. Obermeier, 76
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Bridges v. United States, 12597.
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