United States v. Wallace & Tiernan Co.

The basic question here is whether the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures bars the United States from utilizing certain documentary evidence in this civil antitrust proceeding instituted in the United States District Court of Rhode Island. Subsidiary procedural questions involve the doctrine of res judicata We proceed at once to consideration of the important basic question since for reasons later given we reject the subsidiary res judicata contentions.

First. Whether the Government has a right to utilize the documentary evidence in this civil proceeding can…