United States v. McKay
District Court, D. Nevada · 1924-09-04 · cited 22×
The case concerned defendants' motion to review a U.S. Commissioner's denial of their attempt to traverse the grounds of a search warrant that led to the seizure of liquor from their premises in Reno, Nevada, under the National Prohibition Act. The defendants challenged the warrant's validity more than 13 days after its execution and after an information had been filed in district court, raising issues including the commissioner's jurisdiction, the timeliness of the supporting affidavit, and the identity of the affiant. The court denied the motion, holding that the defendants failed to act with reasonable diligence before the district court took jurisdiction, and thus lost their right to remedies under sections 15 and 16 of the Espionage Act. The core reasoning was that once the case was removed from the commissioner's jurisdiction by the filing of the information, she lacked power to suppress evidence or determine its admissibility, and the warrant was otherwise regular on its face with probable cause.