United States v. Di Re

Background

Michael Di Re, a passenger in a parked car, was arrested after an informer arranged to buy counterfeit gasoline ration coupons from the driver. Police frisked the men, took them to the station, and later performed a thorough search of Di Re that uncovered a concealed envelope with one hundred counterfeit gasoline coupons. He was convicted under a wartime rationing statute after the coupons were admitted at trial over his objection, and a federal appeals court reversed the conviction on grounds the arrest and search were illegal.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the search could be justified either as part of a lawful arrest or as an extension of an automobile search rule. It refused to extend the Carroll automobile-search doctrine to permit searching every occupant without separate cause. The justices also held that, in absence of a controlling federal rule, the validity of a warrantless arrest for a federal offense is judged by the law of the state where the arrest occurred. Under New York law the officers had no probable cause or visible misdemeanor tied to Di Re, and the informer did not incriminate him. The Court rejected arguments that silence or later discovery of evidence retroactively made the arrest lawful, and emphasized that evidence cannot validate an otherwise unlawful search.

Real world impact

The Court concluded the arrest and search exceeded lawful authority and that the conviction could not stand because it relied on evidence seized after the illegal action. The ruling narrows when officers may search passengers without specific grounds and confirms that state arrest rules govern many warrantless arrests for federal crimes when no federal statute applies.

Dissents or concurrances

The Chief Justice and Justice Black dissented, as noted at the opinion’s end.