United States v. Plemmons

The single question presented on this appeal is the sufficiency of the affidavit upon which a "John Doe" nighttime search warrant was issued in a moonshine liquor case. Defendant waived trial by jury. The District Judge found him guilty of all five counts of an indictment charging violations of a number of provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, sentenced him to one year on the third count, suspended sentence on the remaining four counts and placed defendant on probation for a period of three years, the period of probation to be consecutive with the term of imprisonment imposed under the third count. The District Court overruled defendants timely motion to suppress the evidence, made pursuant to Rule 41(e) (2) and (5) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence upon which the Commissioner issued the search warrant. Reference is made to the opinion of the District Court for a more detailed statement of facts. 222 F.Supp. 853 (E.D.Tenn.).