United States v. Ceccolini

Decided March 21, 1978. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1151 · 435 U.S. 268 (1978) · Cited 702 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the degree of attenuation between Biro's search of the envelope and Hennessey's testimony at the trial was not sufficient to dissipate the connection between the illegality of the search and challenged testimony.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Wong Sun v. United States · 371 U.S. 471 (1963)
• Brown v. Illinois · 422 U.S. 590 (1975)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Nardone v. United States · 308 U.S. 338 (1939)
• United States v. Calandra · 414 U.S. 338 (1974)
• Alderman v. United States · 394 U.S. 165 (1969)
• Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States · 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Johnson v. New Jersey · 384 U.S. 719 (1966)
• United States v. Janis · 428 U.S. 433 (1976)
• Michigan v. Tucker · 417 U.S. 433 (1974)
• United States v. Wilson · 420 U.S. 332 (1975)
• Walder v. United States · 347 U.S. 62 (1954)
• Harrison v. United States · 392 U.S. 219 (1968)
• United States v. Bayer · 331 U.S. 532 (1947)
• Steward MacHine Co. v. Davis · 301 U.S. 548 (1937)
• Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. · 336 U.S. 271 (1949)
• United States v. Morrison · 429 U.S. 1 (1976)

Cited by

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

• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Hudson v. Michigan · 547 U.S. 586 (2006)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Oregon v. Elstad · 470 U.S. 298 (1985)
• United States v. Scott · 437 U.S. 82 (1978)
• New York v. Harris · 495 U.S. 14 (1990)
• Nix v. Williams · 467 U.S. 431 (1984)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• United States v. Salvucci · 448 U.S. 83 (1980)
• Scott v. United States · 436 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• United States v. Payner · 447 U.S. 727 (1980)
• Powell v. Nevada · 511 U.S. 79 (1994)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1978). 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).