United States v. Jeffers

Here we are faced with troublesome questions as to the exclusion from evidence, on motion of the accused, of contraband narcotics claimed by him which were seized on the premises of other persons in the course of a search without a warrant. On the basis of the seized narcotics, the accused, respondent here, was convicted of violation of the narcotics laws, 26 U. S. C. § 2553 (a) and 21 U. S. C. § 174. Prior to trial the District Court had denied respondent’s motion to suppress, as evidence at the trial, the property seized. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction by a divided court, '88…