Moe Weise and James Lester French v. United States

Appellants were convicted of the offense of transporting obscene material interstate (from Portland, Oregon, to Tacoma, Washington) in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1465 . On the appeal they contend only that the trial court erred in admitting the obscene material in that it had been illegally seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Following is in summary the train of events leading up to the arrest and seizure. Appellant Weise was known to the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a dealer in pornographic material and of having a record of convictions as such. On March 15, 1956, he was under agency surveillance at Los Angeles. On that date he and appellant French left Los Angeles in the former’s car, which was observed to be heavily loaded. FBI agents followed them to San Francisco where Weise told an agency informer that he had pornographic material for sale. While in San Francisco appellants were observed making calls at novelty shops which were known to deal in obscene material. At each call packages were removed from the car and delivered to the shop or store. Agents in Oakland and Sacramento observed similar activities of appellants in…