Horst Erhart Von Schmitt v. United States

Horst Erhart Von Schmitt, appellant herein, was indicted in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on a one-count indictment charging him with transporting a stolen 1959 Volkswagen motor vehicle from Phoenix, Arizona, to Clark County, Nevada, in violation of Section 2312, Title 18, U.S.C. He waived trial to a jury and was tried to the court. The trial judge found him guilty and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. This appeal followed.

The appellant was arrested on May 18, 1965, by Robert Eugene Kelley, a detective from the sheriff’s office of Clark County, Nevada. He was held in the county jail until the afternoon of May 20, at which time he was interviewed in the jail by Claude W. Roberts III, a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Roberts advised the appellant of his rights. The appellant stated that he understood his rights as advised by Mr. Roberts, and that he was willing to discuss the matter of the stolen automobile with Mr. Roberts but that he did not wish to furnish a signed statement. The appellant then made a detailed statement of his connection with the stolen automobile. Thereafter he was arrested on a federal warrant,…