Morissette v. United States

Scrap dealer Morissette (defendant) took spent, weathered, rusting bomb casings from an Air Force bombing range, flattened them, and sold them for an $84 profit, honestly believing (as he admitted at trial) that the government had abandoned them even though he knew they were Air Force property; he was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 641 for "knowingly convert[ing]" government property. The trial judge rejected Morissette's abandonment-belief defense, instructing the jury the only question was whether he intended to take the property, and he was convicted; the court of appeals affirmed, assuming Congress meant "knowingly convert" to require only an intentional exercise of dominion over another's property, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.