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Evidence - Federal Communications Act - Admissibility Of Evidence Which Became Accessible By Wire-Tapping, Edmond F. Devine

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners were convicted under a federal indictment for frauds on the revenue. The United States Supreme Court reversed the conviction on the ground it was obtained by use of evidence secured in violation of section 605 of the Communications Act of 1934 by wire-tapping. A new trial resulted in conviction and eventually the Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to consider the question whether evidence indirectly obtained by that wire-tapping could be admitted despite the first holding. Held, such evidence is inadmissible on the basis that to rule otherwise would largely nullify the doctrine previously laid down. Nardone …