Supreme Court of the United States
Lustig v. United States
June 27, 1949338 U.S. 74
Summary
The Court reversed the lower courts, holding that Secret Service Agent Greene’s participation in the state officers’ search made it a federal search under the Byars doctrine, so the seized evidence must be suppressed. Justice Reed dissented, arguing Greene did not participate and the evidence should be admitted; Justice Murphy concurred in the reversal but said the distinction between state and federal search was unnecessary to decide.
Holding
- Whether evidence obtained by state officers, after being examined and selected by a federal agent who participated in the search, must be suppressed under the Fourth Amendment as applied in Byars v. United States.. The motion to suppress should have been granted; the evidence is inadmissible because the federal agent’s participation made the search a federal search under Byars.
Docket 1389
Cited authorities
- 35 Stat. 1088