Judicial history of funk cAse
- U.S. V funk-district court-guilty
2,funk v us-US circuit court of appeals-reversed and remanded
3-U.S. V funk-district court-guilty - Funk v us-US circuit court of appeals-affirmed
- Funk v us-supreme court of us -reversed
Relevant facts of funk case
Mr funk was convicted of conspiracy of violating prohibition laws.
- at his trial he tried to call wife as his witness
- wife not allowed to testify
- deemed incompetent because wife seen as property under common law
What is the narrow issue of funk case?
Did the judge make an error when he did not allow mrs funk to testify as a witness?
What is the broad issue for funk v us?
Does it violate due process if old common law, which is no longer relevant, is applied In a criminal case?
-old common laws that are no longer relevant to modern day society shouldn’t be applied in a present criminal case.
What was the discussion ?
Point of view of petitioner: funk believed it was an error when the judge did not allow his wife to testify
Point of view of respondent-(state) says judge did not make error because he followed the law and applied it to the case.
What did the Supreme Court rule in funk v us?
The Supreme Court agreed with mr. Funk and ruled that the law was in fact too old for the modern times and the guilty verdict was reversed
