Manton v. United States - Significance, "without Regard To The Merits", "conspiracy Constitutes The Offense"

york appellants conviction times

Appellants

Martin T. Manton, George M. Spector

Appellee

United States

Appellants' Claim

Reversal of conviction for conspiracy to obstruct the administration of justice and to defraud the United States, and dismissal of sentence.

Chief Lawyers for Appellants

William J. Hughes, Harry E. Rat

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

John T. Cahill

Judges

George Sutherland, Harlan F. Stone, Charles E. Clark

Place

New York, New York

Date of Decision

4 December 1939

Decision

Manton's conviction was upheld. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment and $10,000 fine.

Manton v. United States - Significance

This unique appeal brought the senior judge of the country's most prominent federal appeals court before his own colleagues. With all but one of the court's judges disqualified because of their previous association with the appellant, a special federal court had to be constituted to hear the appeal. The case, involving a scandal unique in federal court history, established a landmark in the deline…

Manton v. United States - "without Regard To The Merits"

The indictment noted that Manton was a stockholder in, or "wholly or substantially owned or controlled" a number of corporations that had cases pending in his court between 1930 and 1939. It charged that Fallon actively proposed to those litigants that his close friendship with Manton could get them favorable action, and that such parties actively sought Fallon's help "in virtue of Manton's office…

Manton v. United States - "conspiracy Constitutes The Offense"

Considering Manton's claim that the indictment wrongly set forth a number of distinct conspiracies in a single count, the special court found that the conspiracy constitutes the offense irrespective of the number or variety of objects which the conspiracy seeks to attain, or whether any of the ultimate objects be attained or not. Manton's contention, it said, "confuses the conspiracy, which was on…

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