Wilson M. Smith, Jr. v. United States of America, Raymond Bowden v. United States

To “avoid all the evil implications of secret interrogation,” McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 344, 63 S.Ct. 608, 87 L.Ed. 819 (1943), Rule 5(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requires police to bring an arrested person before a committing magistrate “without unnecessary delay.” Experience shows the temptation to violate this command is so great that police will not voluntarily comply, and the legislature and executive have been either unable or unwilling to employ effective methods to insure compliance.1 To protect the rights of arrested persons, the Supreme Court has found…