Opinion

Melvin Corngold v. United States

  • 367 F.2d 1
  • 1966 U.S. App. LEXIS 4865
Court
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Filed
Sep 29, 1966
Status
Published
Author
Chambers
On the bench
Barnes, Chambers, Duniway, Hamley, Jertberg, Merrill, Koelsch, Browning, Ely
Cited by
162 cases

finding “joint endeavor” subject to Fourth Amendment where private party’s purpose was solely to assist federal agents, and agents helped open boxes and inspect contents

How later courts described this case

  • finding “joint endeavor” subject to Fourth Amendment where private party’s purpose was solely to assist federal agents, and agents helped open boxes and inspect contents
  • holding that search by private individual at government request was not a "private search"
  • noting that the government requested a private person to open a package in a particular person’s possession
  • customs agents asked airline transportation agent to open a package placed with the airline for shipment, then joined actively in the search by holding open the flaps of the large package so its contents could be viewed; removing, opening, and inspecting the contents of the small boxes which it contained; and marking the small boxes for future identification

Written by the judges who cited it.

Distinguished

  • Distinguished by United States v. Echols, 348 F. Supp. 745 (1972)

    Corngold is distinguishable on its facts from the instant case.
    District Court, E.D. MissouriJun 15, 1972Read it

The opinion

CHAMBERS, Circuit Judge,

concurs in the dissent of Judge BARNES.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.