Frank Murphy

“ Those dangers, obviously, are not present where a felony plainly occurs before the eyes of an officer of the law at a place where he is lawfully present. Common sense then dictates that an arrest in that situation is valid despite the failure to obtain a warrant of arrest.
But we cannot agree that the seizure of the contraband property was made in conformity with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. It is a cardinal rule that, in seizing goods and articles, law enforcement agents must secure and use search warrants wherever reasonably practicable. ”

“ His arrest was therefore valid on the theory that he was committing a felony in the discernible presence of an agent of the Alcohol Tax Unit, a peace officer of the United States. The absence of a warrant of arrest, even though there was sufficient time to obtain one, does not destroy the validity of an arrest under these circumstances. Warrants of arrest are designed to meet the dangers of unlimited and unreasonable arrests of persons who are not at the moment committing any crime. ”

“ Criminals do not normally choose to engage in felonious enterprises before an audience of police officials. We may well anticipate the perplexity of officers engaged in the practical business of law enforcement when confronted with a rule which makes the validity of a seizure of contraband materials as an incident to a lawful arrest dependent upon subsequent judicial judgment as to the 'fortuitous' circumstances relating to the presence of the party arrested on the premises in which the illegal goods are located. ”

“ Under the English common law, a police officer had power without a warrant to arrest persons committing a misdemeanor in the officer's presence and persons whom the officer had reasonable cause to believe had committed a felony. This rule, which had its origin in the ancient formative period of the common law, was firmly established at the time of the adoption of the Fourth Amendment. ”

“ In their understandable zeal to ferret out crime and in the excitement of the capture of a suspected person, officers are less likely to possess the detachment and neutrality with which the constitutional rights of the suspect must be viewed. To provide the necessary security against unreasonable intrusions upon the private lives of individuals, the framers of the Fourth Amendment required adherence to judicial processes wherever possible. ”

“ Nor are we free to assume that the agents in this case would have proceeded illegally to seize the materials in the barn in the absence of the justification of a valid arrest. A lawful seizure is not to be invalidated by speculations as to what the conduct of the agents might have been had a different factual situation been presented. ”

“ The material facts are not in dispute. In January, 1946, certain of the petitioners approached one Kell offering to rent a portion of the latter's farm on which a building was to be erected. His suspicions aroused, Kell reported the matter to agents of the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He was advised that the offer could be accepted provided that nothing was done to entice petitioners into completion of their plans. An agent, Nilsen, was assigned to the farm to act the part of a farm hand in the employ of Kell. ”

“ Since that time it has received general application b state and federal courts. [5] Indeed, this Court has heretofore given specific recognition to the rule. Carroll v. United States, 1925, 267 U.S. 132, 156, 157, 45 S.Ct. ”