United States v. 422 Casks of Wine | |
---|---|
Decided February 15, 1828 | |
Full case name | United States v. 422 Casks of Wine, Hazard & Williams Claimants |
Docket no. | 26-547 |
Citations | 26 U.S. 547 (more) |
Case history | |
Prior | The Sarah, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 391 (1823) |
Holding | |
Claimants in in rem cases must put claims under oath. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinion | |
Majority | Story |
Laws applied | |
Judiciary Act of 1789 |
United States v. 422 Casks of Wine, 26 U.S. (1 Pet.) 547 (1828), is an 1828 United States Supreme Court civil forfeiture case between the United States and 422 casks of Malaga wine.[1] The case was brought after the United States moved to seize the wine on the grounds that it had been deliberately mislabeled as sherry to get a tax drawback, and the buyers objected. The original trial was ruled in favor of the United States but was ordered to be retried after errors were discovered concerning jurisdiction. In the subsequent retrial, the Supreme Court ruled against the United States; however, it did grant a certificate of seizure on probable cause.[1]
The defendant in this case was an object rather than a person, making this a jurisdiction in rem case, power over objects, rather than the more familiar in personam case over persons.