Frederick Elmo Thompson, Jr. v. United States

Frederick Elmo Thompson, Jr., appellant herein, was charged in an indictment filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada with three counts of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 . In Count I of the indictment he was charged with a violation of the first paragraph of section 2314 which provides punishment for “[w]hoever transports in interstate or foreign commerce any goods, wares, merchandise, securities or money of the value of $5,000 or more, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted or taken by fraud * *

In Count III of said indictment the defendant was charged with a violation of the third paragraph of section 2314 which ■provides punishment for “whoever with unlawful or fraudulent intent transports in interstate or foreign commerce any falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited securities or tax stamps, knowing the same to have been falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited * * *»

After a trial before the court, a jury having been waived, Count II of the indictment was dismissed and the defendant was convicted of Counts I and III of the indictment. A timely appeal was taken to this court. A summary of the facts produced by the prosecution…

(concurring) :

It may have been “an accidental happenstance” when the folded square piece of newspaper which had been concealed behind a picture in appellant’s hotel room, dropped to the floor. The action of Officer Barrett in unfolding the paper to expose the marihuana clearly was not. This was a conscious, deliberate act, having for its obvious purpose the discovery of any article which may have been secreted within the folded newspaper. It was just as much a search as if the officer had opened a closed book or briefcase, lying on a table in the room, to determine if anything was concealed therein.

An officer who has been ' invited to the home or hotel room of another person has no authority, by reason of such invitation, to go prying into closed receptacles, files, boxes or packages in the manner weekly depicted in the television show “San Francisco Beat.” Despite rightful presence on the premises, any such invasion of privacy is unlawful under the Fourth Amendment, absent specific consent, a search warrant, an immediately preceding valid arrest of the occupant on the premises, or some emergent circumstance such as the need of saving evidence about to be destroyed.

However,…

382 F.2d 390 Frederick Elmo THOMPSON, Jr., Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. No. 21516. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. July 26, 1967. Robert R. Herz, Reno, Nev., for appellant. Joseph L. Ward, U.S. Atty., Julien G. Sourwine, Asst. U.S. Atty., Reno, Nev., for appellee. Before CHAMBERS, HAMLEY and HAMLIN, Circuit Judges. HAMLIN, Circuit Judge. 1 Frederick Elmo Thompson, Jr., appellant herein, was charged in an indictment filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada with three counts of violation of 18 U.S.C. 2314. In Court I of the indictment he was charged with a violation of the first paragraph of section 2314 which provides punishment for 'whoever transports in interstate or foreign commerce any goods, wares, merchandise, securities or money of the value of $5,000 or more, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted or taken by fraud * * *.' 2 In Count III of said indictment the defendant was charged with a violation of the third paragraph of section 2314 which provides punishment for 'whoever with unlawful or fraudulent intent transports in interstate or foreign commerce any falsely made, forged, althered, or…