Grimsley v. United States

My dissent rests upon the Act of February 26, 1919, 28 USCA § 391, providing: “On the hearing of any appeal * * * in any ease, civil or criminal, the court shall give judgment after an examination of the entire record before the court, without regard to technical errors, defects, or exceptions which do not affect the substantial rights of the parties.” This means that no new trial is to be. granted for an abstract error which the whole record shows did no practical harm. The same words were used in this same meaning by the court in Iron-Silver Co. v. Mike & Starr Co., 143 U. S., at page 402,…