United States v. Richard L. Self and Robert M. Straine

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

A jury found appellants Self and Straine guilty of the interstate transportation of a stolen automobile in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2312 and they appeal from the judgment imposing sentence. The thrust of their argument is that the exploitation by a state police officer of an unlawful arrest led to the evidence of their possession of a stolen vehicle and that such evidence is inadmissible under the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine of Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 487-488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441.

About 9 A.M. on April 13, 1968, a veteran police…