United States v. James B. Cardwell, United States of America v. Marvin Martin

Cardwell was convicted of aiding in preparation of a false corporate tax return, his codefendant Martin was convicted of willfully subscribing to a false corporate tax return, and both were convicted of conspiracy. After a bench trial, each was sentenced to twenty-five weekends in jail, 2000 hours charitable service, and five years probation. This appeal followed. We reverse the convictions on the ground that the search warrant executed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during its investigation did not satisfy the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment, but rather authorized an unlawful general search of the appellants’ business premises.

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

An employee of Midwest Growers Cooperative Corp. (Midwest) notified the IRS that Midwest and other related corporations were incorrectly reporting income on corporate tax returns. According to the informant, the appellants, who were in apparent control of the corporations, had diverted some of the companies’ income to themselves and not reported it on the corporate tax returns, and had caused checks to be issued for nonexistent services, which were deducted as business expenses. Based on this information,…