Kotteakos v. United States
- Decided
- June 10, 1946
- Docket
- Nos. 457, 458
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 7,845 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that error is not harmless if it had “substantial and injurious effect or influence” upon the jury — O'NEAL v. McAninch (1995)
- holding that error is not harmless if the court "cannot say; with fair assurance that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error" — United States v. Vayner (2014)
- holding that non-constitutional error is harmless if it did not have "substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict” — United States v. Johnson, Michael (2000)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*752] Mr. Justice Rutledge delivered the opinion of the Court.
The only question is whether petitioners have suffered substantial prejudice from being convicted of a single general conspiracy by evidence which the Government admits proved not one conspiracy but some eight or more different ones of the same sort executed through a common key figure, Simon Brown. Petitioners were convicted under the general conspiracy section of the Criminal Code, 18 U. S. C. § 88, of conspiring to violate the provisions of the National Housing Act, 12 U. S. C. §§ 1702,1703,1715, 1731. The judgments were affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. 151 F. 2d 170. We granted certiorari because of the importance of the question for the administration of criminal justice in the federal courts. 326 U. S. 711.
The indictment named thirty-two defendants, including the petitioners. [1]
Statutes cited
- 18 U.S.C. § 88
- 12 U.S.C. § 1702
- 28 U.S.C. § 391
- 18 U.S.C. § 557
- 18 U.S.C. § 556
Cite this
Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750 (1946)Read the full opinion
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