The People v. Harris

A jury in the criminal court of Cook County found defendant, Charles Harris, guilty of unlawful possession of narcotic drugs and he was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 5 to 15 years. The sole question raised for review is whether the narcotic drugs allegedly found in his hotel room and introduced into evidence were the product of an illegal search and seizure.

The People’s evidence shows that about 2 o’clock in the afternoon of September 13, 1958, officers Nash and Vrdolyak observed a man they knew to be an addict standing on a street corner on the south side of Chicago. The…