United States v. Perlstein

I think that the decision in Pettibone v. United States, 148 U.S. 197, 13 S.Ct. 542, 37 L.Ed. 419, plainly rules the question fundamentally here involved.

There appears to be no logical escape from the conclusion that refusal to apply to the facts of this case the rule of the Pettibone case works approbation of a conviction obtained upon a federal indictment which utterly failed to charge the defendants with an offense against the laws of the United States. If that be so, then obviously the disposition which this court now makes of the instant appeal far transcends in its effect generally the…