Husten v. United States

(dissenting) .

The statute made the jurisdiction in this case dependent on the value of the salesman’s sample stock of jewelry stolen and transported in interstate commerce. In bulk, as the merchandise was when stolen and transported, its value amounted to less than the required $5,000, but the trial court instructed that the standard or criterion of value was the “retail market value,” which was more than $5,000. I think that standard gave a fictitious value and erroneously expanded the jurisdiction. It will become more obvious when the standard is applied to value sacks of coffee or cases of…