|
|
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
|
|
|
<case id="50722" source="Oyez API" schema="simple-legal-case-xml-v1"><name>Adams v. Williams</name><docketNumber>70-283</docketNumber><term>1971</term><court><name>Burger Court (1972-1975)</name><identifier>burger4</identifier><href>https://api.oyez.org/courts/burger4</href></court><parties><firstParty role="Petitioner">Frederick E. Adams</firstParty><secondParty role="Respondent">Robert Williams</secondParty></parties><dates><date type="argued">1972-04-10</date><date type="decided">1972-06-12</date></dates><citation><volume>407</volume><page>143</page><year>1972</year><href>https://api.oyez.org/case_citation/case_citation/14650</href><justia_url>https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/407/143/</justia_url></citation><jurisdiction>Writ of <i>certiorari</i></jurisdiction><facts><html><p>During the early morning hours of October 30, 1966, an individual approached a police officer in a gas station parking lot in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and informed him that another individual in a nearby vehicle was carrying narcotics and had a gun at his waist. The officer approached the vehicle on foot and asked the occupant, Robert Williams, to open the door. When Williams rolled down the window instead, the officer reached into the car and removed a gun from Williams’ waistband, though the gun was not visible from outside the vehicle. The officer then arrested Williams for unlawful possession of a firearm and proceeded to search his vehicle, where he found heroin. Williams was convicted in a Connecticut state court of possession of a handgun and heroin.</p>
|
|
|
<p>After the Supreme Court of Connecticut affirmed the conviction, Williams filed a claim against the prison warden, Frederick Adams, in which he alleged that the state of Connecticut continued to detain him unlawfully as a prisoner. Williams argued that the handgun and drugs were discovered through an unlawful search and should not have been admitted into evidence at his trial. The district court denied his petition. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sided with Williams and ordered that his conviction be set aside.</p>
|
|
|
<p> </p>
|
|
|
</html><text>During the early morning hours of October 30, 1966, an individual approached a police officer in a gas station parking lot in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and informed him that another individual in a nearby vehicle was carrying narcotics and had a gun at his waist. The officer approached the vehicle on foot and asked the occupant, Robert Williams, to open the door. When Williams rolled down the window instead, the officer reached into the car and removed a gun from Williams’ waistband, though the gun was not visible from outside the vehicle. The officer then arrested Williams for unlawful possession of a firearm and proceeded to search his vehicle, where he found heroin. Williams was convicted in a Connecticut state court of possession of a handgun and heroin.
|
|
|
After the Supreme Court of Connecticut affirmed the conviction, Williams filed a claim against the prison warden, Frederick Adams, in which he alleged that the state of Connecticut continued to detain him unlawfully as a prisoner. Williams argued that the handgun and drugs were discovered through an unlawful search and should not have been admitted into evidence at his trial. The district court denied his petition. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sided with Williams and ordered that his conviction be set aside.</text></facts><questions /><conclusion><html><p>Yes. Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion for the 6-3 majority. The Court held that the informant’s tip permitted the officer to approach Williams’ car and make a limited search of Williams’ waistband for the officer’s own protection. The Court further held that the discovery of the weapon gave the officer probable cause to arrest Williams’ for illegal possession of a firearm. Because the officer’s subsequent search of the vehicle was permissible, the narcotics he discovered were admissible at Williams’ trial.</p>
|
|
|
<p>Justice William O. Douglas wrote a dissent in which he argued that the officer did not have probable cause to arrest Williams’ for illegal possession of a firearm because Connecticut’s “free-and-easy” gun laws allow individuals to carry concealed weapons so long as they have a permit. Justice Thurgood Marshall concurred in the dissent. In his separate dissent, Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. expressed concern that the unnamed informant gave no information that the officer could not have readily manufactured after seizing the weapon. Therefore, Justice Brennan argued that police officers should not be permitted to arrest and search individuals on the basis of an informant’s tip alone. Justice Marshall also wrote a separate dissent in which he argued that the prosecutors failed to meet their burden to prove that the informant’s information was reliable and sufficient to justify the arrest and search of Williams. Justice Douglas joined in the dissent.</p>
|
|
|
</html><text>Yes. Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion for the 6-3 majority. The Court held that the informant’s tip permitted the officer to approach Williams’ car and make a limited search of Williams’ waistband for the officer’s own protection. The Court further held that the discovery of the weapon gave the officer probable cause to arrest Williams’ for illegal possession of a firearm. Because the officer’s subsequent search of the vehicle was permissible, the narcotics he discovered were admissible at Williams’ trial.
|
|
|
Justice William O. Douglas wrote a dissent in which he argued that the officer did not have probable cause to arrest Williams’ for illegal possession of a firearm because Connecticut’s “free-and-easy” gun laws allow individuals to carry concealed weapons so long as they have a permit. Justice Thurgood Marshall concurred in the dissent. In his separate dissent, Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. expressed concern that the unnamed informant gave no information that the officer could not have readily manufactured after seizing the weapon. Therefore, Justice Brennan argued that police officers should not be permitted to arrest and search individuals on the basis of an informant’s tip alone. Justice Marshall also wrote a separate dissent in which he argued that the prosecutors failed to meet their burden to prove that the informant’s information was reliable and sufficient to justify the arrest and search of Williams. Justice Douglas joined in the dissent.</text></conclusion><advocates><advocate for="for petitioner"><name>Donald A. Browne</name><href>https://api.oyez.org/people/donald_a_browne</href></advocate><advocate for="for respondent"><name>Edward F. Hennessey, III</name><href>https://api.oyez.org/people/edward_f_hennessey</href></advocate></advocates><decisions><decision type="majority opinion" winning_party="Adams"><description /><votes majority="6" minority="3"><vote opinion_type="dissent" vote="minority" seniority="2"><justice>William O. Douglas</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/william_o_douglas</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="none" vote="majority" seniority="4"><justice>Potter Stewart</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/potter_stewart</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="dissent" vote="minority" seniority="6"><justice>Thurgood Marshall</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/thurgood_marshall</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="dissent" vote="minority" seniority="3"><justice>William J. Brennan, Jr.</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/william_j_brennan_jr</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="none" vote="majority" seniority="5"><justice>Byron R. White</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/byron_r_white</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="none" vote="majority" seniority="1"><justice>Warren E. Burger</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/warren_e_burger</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="none" vote="majority" seniority="7"><justice>Harry A. Blackmun</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/harry_a_blackmun</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="none" vote="majority" seniority="8"><justice>Lewis F. Powell, Jr.</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/lewis_f_powell_jr</justice_href></vote><vote opinion_type="majority" vote="majority" seniority="9"><justice>William H. Rehnquist</justice><justice_href>https://api.oyez.org/people/william_h_rehnquist</justice_href></vote></votes></decision></decisions><source><href>https://api.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-283</href><raw_file>D:\PyCharm Community Edition 2024.3.1.1\PythonProject\IBM Z Datathon\json_data\api.oyez.org_cases_1971_70-283.json</raw_file></source></case> |
