Draper v. United States (1958)
- Docket
- 136
- Decided
- 1958-01-01
Summary
Question: Does knowledge provided by an informant give the police probable cause under the Fourth Amendment to arrest and search a suspect? Conclusion: Yes. Justice Charles E. Whittaker delivered the opinion of the 6-1 majority. The Supreme Court held that evidence required to show probable cause is not held to the same standard as evidence required to prove guilt in trial. Despite the fact that information Marsh gained from Hereford would be inadmissible at trial as hearsay, it may still be relied on as probable cause for a search and arrest. The Court also held that, because Marsh was able to personally verify the description Hereford had given, he had “reasonable grounds” to believe that the information regarding the heroin was also correct. In his dissenting opinion, Justice William O. Douglas wrote that an arrest made on the word of an informant violates the spirit of the Fourth Amendment because it allows the police latitude to arrest innocent people without sufficient proof. He argued that an interpretation of the Fourth Amendment to allow arrests based on suspicion goes against the entire history of American jurisprudence and the intentions of the framers of the Constitution. Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Felix Frankfurter did not participate in the discussion or decision of the case.