Christoffel v. United States
338 U.S. 84 · Decided June 27, 1949 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Christoffel v. United States was decided on June 27, 1949 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Frank Murphy wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Statutory construction of criminal laws, perjury” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 338 U.S. 84 · 69 S. Ct. 1447 · 93 L. Ed. 2d 1826 · 1949 U.S. LEXIS 2984
- Docket number
- 528
- Decided
- June 27, 1949
- Argued
- April 20, 1949
- Court era
- Vinson Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Frank Murphy
- Opinion assigned by
- Hugo L. Black
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Statutory construction of criminal laws, perjury
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- 22 U.S.C. § 2501
- Type of law
- Infrequently litigated statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Dissent | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Majority | |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Frank Murphy | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Robert H. Jackson | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Wiley B. Rutledge | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Dissent | |
| Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson | Dissent |
Full case caption
Christoffel v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 1948-119, docket 1948-119-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Statutory construction of criminal laws, perjury”
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Upshaw v. United States
- Uveges v. Pennsylvania
- McDonald v. United States
- Michelson v. United States
- Frazier v. United States
- Fisher v. Pace
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error