Criminal Law Commons^™

Corporations-Officers And Directors-Liability For Representative Acts Under The Sherman Act, Leon E. Irish

Michigan Law Review

An indictment brought under section 1 of the Sherman Act charged appellee and the corporation that employed him with conspiracy to eliminate price competition in the greater Kansas City milk market. Appellee was charged solely, in his capacity as officer, director or agent of the corporation. The district court dismissed the indictment on the ground that natural persons are indictable under section 1 of the Sherman Act only for acts done on their own account. On direct appeal to the Supreme Court, held, reversed and remanded. A corporate officer is liable under section 1 of the Sherman Act whether …

Betts V. Brady Twenty Years Later: The Right To Counself And Due Process Values, Yale Kamisar

Michigan Law Review

I am quite distressed by talk that the landmark case of Mapp v. Ohio "suggests by analogy" that the Court may now overrule Betts v. Brady. For whether one talks about the fourth or the sixth amendment, there is much to be said for Justice Harlan's dissenting views in Mapp. "[W]hatever configurations ... have been developed in the particularizing federal precedents" should not be "deemed a part of 'ordered liberty,' and as such ... enforceable against the States .... [W]e would not be true to the Fourteenth Amendment were we merely to stretch the general principle [ of …

Bankruptcy-Fradulent Transfers-Venue For Plenary Actions Under Section 70(E), Martin B. Dickinson Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff trustee in bankruptcy brought a plenary action under section 70(e) of the Bankruptcy Act in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for recovery of fraudulently transferred property located within the district. The defendants were citizens of Illinois, except the bankrupt's daughter, a California citizen. The district court granted the daughter's motion to dismiss for lack of venue. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded. Sections 23(b) and 70(e)(3) of the Bankruptcy Act exclude actions under section 70(e) from the requirements of the general venue provision of Title 28, U.S.C.; in all cases under section 70(e) …

Labor Law--Federal Pre-Emption--State Jurisdiction To Prosecute Labor Organizers For Criminal Trespass, John W. Galanis

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, non-employee union organizers, entered the parking lot of a retail department store without permission for the sole purpose of distributing union material to the store's employees. After continued refusal to comply with requests to leave, the defendants were arrested, tried, and convicted of criminal trespass. It was contended that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the National Labor Relations Act had pre-empted state control of the labor activities involved. On appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, held, affirmed. State jurisdiction was justified not only by the state's interest in domestic peace and the protection of employer's property rights, …

Legal, Medical And Psychiatric Considerations In The Control Of Prostitution, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

In common with other nations of the world the United States today as in the past is faced with the problem of controlling prostitution, particularly in urban areas. At one time or another states and cities in the United States have experimented with the classic methods of controlling prostitution: reglementation, segregation and repression. Reglementation of individual houses or prostitutes has never been carried out on a statewide basis in any state in the United States, though one can find instances in certain large cities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in which city ordinances or de facto police regulations …

Securities Regulation-Federal Anti-Fraud Provisions-Applicability Of Insider Responsibility To Broker In Possession Of Inside Corporate Information, John A. Krsul Jr.

Michigan Law Review

During a period of upward movement in the price of Curtiss-Wright common stock, the corporation's board of directors voted to reduce the stock dividend by forty percent, an action certain to have an immediate adverse effect upon the stock's market price. Although the board immediately authorized the transmission of information concerning its action to the New York Stock Exchange, an inadvertent delay of forty-five minutes ensued. Unaware of the delay, C, a director of Curtiss-Wright and a registered representative of Cady, Roberts & Co. (registrant) , a registered broker-dealer, telephoned registrant to inform G, one of its partners, …

Donnelly, Goldstein & Schwartz: Criminal Law, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Criminal Law. By Richard C. Donnelly, Joseph Goldstein and Richard D. Schwartz.

Wills - Probate - "Fraudulent" Destruction Notwithstanding Testator's Knowledge, Alan Rothenberg

Michigan Law Review

Decedent executed a will in which he exercised a general testamentary power of appointment making plaintiff beneficiary of a trust. The will was delivered for safekeeping to a notary in Germany and subsequently destroyed in a bombing raid. Decedent, having learned of the destruction of his will, died ten months later without executing a new will in the interim. The Surrogate admitted the will for probate as one "fraudulently destroyed" under New York law. The Appellate Division reversed. On appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, held, reversed, three judges dissenting. The will was "fraudulently destroyed" within the meaning …

Criminal Law-Involuntary Manslaughter- Presence As A Pre-Requisite To Liablity For Permitting An Incompetent To Drive An Automobile, Peter D. Byrnes S. Ed

Michigan Law Review

Defendant gave his car keys to an intoxicated friend and permitted him to operate the vehicle while the defendant was at home in bed. As he was driving on the wrong side of the highway, the friend was involved in a head-on collision which resulted in the death of the drivers of both vehicles. Defendant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and of the misdemeanor of allowing an intoxicated person to operate his automobile. On appeal, held, conviction of manslaughter reversed. Although one who permits an intoxicated person to drive his car is guilty of a misdemeanor, he cannot be …

International Law- Criminal Law- Jurisdiction Over Aliens For Crimes Committed Abroad, Frank G. Reeder S. Ed

Michigan Law Review

Six alien defendants were convicted under a federal statute for knowingly making false statements before United States consular officials abroad in order to procure nonquota immigrant visas. Their motion to dismiss this count on the ground that the district court lacked jurisdiction to indict and try aliens for crimes committed outside the territorial limits of the United States was denied. On appeal, held, affirmed. As a necessary incident to its sovereignty, the United States is competent to punish aliens apprehended within the United States for acts against its sovereignty committed outside the country. Rocha v. United States, 288 …

Regulation Of Business - Sec Rule X-10b-5 - Recovery By Corporation Fradulently Induced To Issue Shares, William S. Bach

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, Mountain States Securities Corporation and former officers of Consolidated American Industries, Inc., organized a dummy corporation, the Mid-Atlantic Development Company. The defendants drew a formal contract whereby Mid-Atlantic agreed to transfer worthless Cuban insurance company stock and equally valueless Honduran oil exploration rights to Consolidated in exchange for 700,000 shares of Consolidated stock. Consolidated's former secretary falsely certified a corporate resolution authorizing the issuance of the stock, and its former general counsel advised Consolidated's stock transfer agent that the transaction was exempt from SEC regulation. Acting on these representations, the transfer agent issued the Consolidated stock. Since at this …

Criminal Law - Insane Persons - Competency To Stand Trial, John H. Hess M.D., Henry B. Pearsall S.Ed., Donald A. Slichter S.Ed., Herbert E. Thomas M.D.

Michigan Law Review

Mental unsoundness in a person accused of a crime raises two distinct legal questions. One is the question of the individual's responsibility for his behavior and the other is the question of the individual's competency to enter into the legal procedures of trial or punishment. In recent years considerable attention has been given to matters of responsibility, but relatively little attention has been paid to the problem of incompetency and especially to the consequences of incompetency proceedings. In order to analyze and evaluate the operations of the Michigan law in the area of incompetency to stand trial, two psychiatrists joined …

Criminal Law - Insane Persons - Influence Of Mental Illness On The Parole Return Process, David G. Davies S.Ed., John H. Hess M.D.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants in the criminal process are divided into rigidly exclusive categories of mental health. The competent to stand trial are first separated from the incompetent. Then the competent are divided on the basis of their mental state at the time of their acts between the "sane" and the "insane." As long as these rigid categories are administered in an adversary trial system, some misdirection of victims of serious mental illness into the penal system is almost inevitable. Even where mental illness might otherwise prevent conviction, those accused of non-capital felonies are not likely to raise the question, and few courts …

Havard: The Detection Of Secret Homicide, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Detection of Secret Homicide. By J. D. J. Havard.

Macdonald: Fraud On The Widow's Share, Max Rheinstein

Michigan Law Review

A Review of FRAUD ON THE WIDOW'S SHARE. By William D. Macdonald

Internal Affairs Of Labor Unions Under The Labor Reform Act Of 1959, Archibald Cox

Michigan Law Review

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 has two main divisions. One deals with the internal affairs of labor organizations and, incidentally, with certain dishonest practices in labor-management relations tending to corrupt union officials. The other deals with labor-management relations as such. This article is confined to the first branch.

The Duty Of Military Defense Counsel To An Accused, Alfred Avins

Michigan Law Review

This article is designed to study the manner in which those Canons of Professional Ethics have been assimilated into the administration of military justice and made the standards for the duty of a military defense counsel.

Legislation - Survey And Analysis Of Criminal And Tort Aspects Of Shoplifting Statutes, Wilbur J. Markstrom S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Shoplifting not only results in heavy financial losses for the merchant but also poses special problems in criminal law and general law enforcement. One such problem arises from the fact that most such thefts involve relatively small amounts, with the result that the public does not seem extremely concerned about the matter when an individual case comes up for prosecution. Another peculiar difficulty is that perhaps more than any other single crime shoplifting is an offense committed by amateurs, both adult and juvenile. This serves to make both detection and prosecution difficult. Finally, the right of the individual to be …

The Supreme Court - October 1958 Term, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court, reads a famous passage by Bryce, "feels the touch of public opinion. Opinion is stronger in America than anywhere else in the world, and judges are only men. To yield a little may be prudent, for the tree that cannot bend to the blast may be broken."

The history of the highest Court bears constant witness to the truth of Bryce's statement. Supreme Court action which has moved too far in one direction has always ultimately provoked an equivalent reaction in the opposite direction. Even an institution as august as the high tribunal cannot escape the law …

Macdonald: Psychiatry And The Criminal, Raymond L. Carol

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Psychiatry and the Criminal By John M. MacDonald.

Trial Of Legal Issues In Injunction Against Tort, Edgar N. Durfee

Michigan Law Review

This essay appeared in a casebook on Equitable Remedies that was used for years in mimeographed form at the University of Michigan Law School. It was never prepared for final publication by Professor Durfee himself, but the numerous changes made in his own personal copy indicate that he had given much thought to the subject. Professor John P. Dawson who had collaborated with Professor Durfee has incorporated these changes in the present text. More changes might have been made by Professor Durfee if he had planned to publish it. The editors believe that as it stands it deserves a wider …

The Supreme Court - October 1957 Term, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

One of the fascinating new games being played by some law professors and others," declared an American Bar Association Journal editorial almost a decade ago, "is to compute the 'box scores' of the votes of justices of the Supreme Court in various important lines of cases."' The present article is not intended as an addition to the work of those engaged in this sort of "numbers game." However useful the statistical method may be in providing the empirical data upon which legal analysis can be based, it should be almost self-evident that its value as the key to the working …

Constitutional Law - Right To Jury Trial In Indirect Criminal Contempts In Federal Courts, Denis T. Rice S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Should constitutional provisions for jury trial apply to contempts committed outside the physical presence of a federal court? The United States Supreme Court, in the recent case of Green v. United States, reviewed this long disputed question. The case involved two Communist Party leaders who had been convicted of Smith Act violations and then had "jumped bail" when they disappeared in violation of surrender orders requiring their presence in court for sentencing. After four and a half years as fugitives they surrendered in 1956 and were charged with criminal contempt of court. Following a so-called "summary" hearing (without the …

Corporations - Derivative Suits - Stockholder Demand As Condition Precedent, W. Stanley Walch S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A derivative suit alleging directors' fraud was brought by a minority shareholder, but there was no allegation of a demand for relief having been made on the corporation's stockholders prior to bringing the suit. The plaintiff did allege, however, that it was useless and impossible for him to make demand on the stockholders because the complaint charged directors' fraud which was a void act beyond the power of the stockholders to ratify, and secondly because it would be highly unreasonable to require plaintiff to make a demand for relief on more than 100,000 stockholders of the corporation. Delaware Chancery Rule …

Constitutional Law - State Action - Imposing Criminal Penalties To Enforce Private Discrimination, Melvyn I. Mozinski S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, Negroes, entered a section of a private restaurant designated to be for "White" patrons only. Although they were denied service, they refused to comply with the proprietor's request to leave. Defendants were subsequently arrested by a police officer after declining his offer not to arrest if they would depart, and were tried for violation of the state's criminal trespass statutes. They were found guilty of a misdemeanor. On appeal, held, sustained. Defendants have no constitutionally protected right not to be discriminated against by an operator of a private enterprise. State v. Clyburn, 247 N.C. 455, 101 S.E. …

Snee & Pye: Status Of Forces Agreement: Criminal Jurisdiction, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Status of Forces Agreement: Criminal Jurisdiction: Criminal Jurisdiction. By Joseph M. Snee, S.J. and Kenneth A. Pye

Bills And Notes - Indorsements - Liability Of Drawee Bank On Forged Indorsement, John P. Williams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

H applied to the plaintiff credit corporation for a loan to finance a new auto dealership. In exchange for a note and contract purportedly signed by H and his wife W, plaintiff issued a check payable to H and W. The check, after being indorsed, was paid by defendant, the drawee bank. The proceeds of the loan were used as planned, but the business subsequently failed at which time it was discovered that H had forged W's signature on the note, the contract and the check. Plaintiff sued to compel restoration of the amount of the check …

Criminal Law - Felony - Murder-Guilt Of Robber For The Justifiable Killing Of His Accomplice By A Policeman, Nick E. Yocca S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree for the death of his co-felon resulting from a wound inflicted by a policeman while the felons were fleeing the scene of a robbery. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, held, reversed, one judge dissenting. For conviction in felony-murder, the killing must be done by the defendant or by one acting in furtherance of the felonious undertaking. One cannot be convicted for the consequences of lawful conduct of another person. Commonwealth v. Redline, 391 Pa. 486, 137 A. (2d) 472 (1958).

Descent And Distribution - Joint Ownership - Imposition Of Constructive Trust On Murderer Of Co-Tenant, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A husband, owning land with his wife as tenants by the entireties, killed her and immediately thereafter committed suicide. In an action to determine ownership of the realty, both the probate and appellate courts declared that since a relevant disinheritance statute was inapplicable, full title vested in the husband and, upon his death, descended to his heirs. On appeal, held, reversed. Despite the common law nature of such tenancies, equity will impose on the husband a constructive trust in one-half the property for the benefit of the victim's estate. National City Bank of Evansville v. Bledsoe, (Ind. 1957) …

Constitutional Law - Due Process -Knowledge Of The Law Required For Conviction Under Criminal Registration Ordinance, David C. Berg

Michigan Law Review

Defendant-appellant was charged with violation of a Los Angeles municipal ordinance which required all persons convicted of a felony in California, or of a crime committed elsewhere which would have been punishable as a felony in California, subsequent to January 1, 1921, to register with the Chief of Police upon remaining in the city longer than five days, or upon making more than five visits to the city within a thirty-day period. At the time of her arrest, appellant had been a resident of Los Angeles for seven years. Within that period she had been convicted (in Los Angeles) of …