Hugo Black

“ They were held not to involve 'use by the Government of the fruits of wrongdoing by its officers.' The Mitchell case, 332 U.S. at page 68, 64 S.Ct. at page 898, however, reaffirms the McNabb rule that a confession is inadmissible if made during illegal detention due to failure promptly to carry a prisoner before a committing magistrate, whether or not the 'confession is the result of torture, physical or psychological * * *.' In this case we are left in no doubt as to why this petitioner was not brought promptly before a committing magistrate. ”

“ Pre-trial confessions of guilt without which petitioner could not have been convicted [1] were admitted in evidence against his objection that they had been illegally obtained. The confessions had been made during a 30-hour period while petitioner was held a prisoner after the police had arrested him on suspicion and without a warrant.
Petitioner's objection to the admissibility of the confessions rested on Rule 5 (a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A., and our holding in McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 63 S.Ct. 608, 87 L.Ed. 819. ”

“ The arresting officer himself stated that petitioner was not carried before a magistrate on Friday or Saturday mo ning after his arrest on Friday at 2 a.m., because the officer thought there was 'not a sufficient case' for the court to hold him, adding that even 'if the police court did hold him we would lose custody of him and I no longer would be able to question him.' Thus the arresting officer in effect conceded that the confessions here were 'the fruits of wrongdoing' by the police officers. ”