Couch v. United States et al.

Decided January 9, 1973. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-889 · 409 U.S. 322 (1973) · Cited 797 times

Holding

On the facts of this case, where petitioner had effectively surrendered possession of the records to the accountant, there was no personal compulsion against petitioner to produce the records.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Johnson v. United States · 228 U.S. 457 (1913)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Donaldson v. United States · 400 U.S. 517 (1971)
• Perlman v. United States · 247 U.S. 7 (1918)
• Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor · 378 U.S. 52 (1964)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Burdeau v. McDowell · 256 U.S. 465 (1921)
• United States v. White · 322 U.S. 694 (1944)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Stanford v. Texas · 379 U.S. 476 (1965)
• Ullmann v. United States · 350 U.S. 422 (1956)
• Curcio v. United States · 354 U.S. 118 (1957)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• United States v. Powell · 379 U.S. 48 (1964)
• Gouled v. United States · 255 U.S. 298 (1921)
• Counselman v. Hitchcock · 142 U.S. 547 (1892)
• Grunewald v. United States · 353 U.S. 391 (1957)
• Gardner v. Broderick · 392 U.S. 273 (1968)
• Uniformed Sanitation Men Ass'n v. Commissioner of Sanitation of New York · 392 U.S. 280 (1968)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Fisher v. United States · 425 U.S. 391 (1976)
• Andresen v. Maryland · 427 U.S. 463 (1976)
• United States v. Miller · 425 U.S. 435 (1976)
• Smith v. Maryland · 442 U.S. 735 (1979)
• United States v. Nobles · 422 U.S. 225 (1975)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Bellis v. United States · 417 U.S. 85 (1974)
• Doe v. United States · 487 U.S. 201 (1988)
• United States v. Arthur Young & Co. · 465 U.S. 805 (1984)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• United States v. Calandra · 414 U.S. 338 (1974)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Pennsylvania v. Muniz · 496 U.S. 582 (1990)
• United States v. Doe · 465 U.S. 605 (1984)
• United States v. LaSalle National Bank · 437 U.S. 298 (1978)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jerry T. O'Brien, Inc. · 467 U.S. 735 (1984)
• United States v. Balsys · 524 U.S. 666 (1998)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1973). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).