This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

The police in Kentucky had an arrest warrant for Ernst Smith, a fugitive from Indiana. The police received information that Smith and another were at a cabin owned by Smith's brother-in-law and that Smith said he would not be taken alive. The police went to the cabin to arrest Smith. They entered the locked cabin by force and without announcing themselves. They found Smith and Wickizer (D) and two sawed-off firearms against the wall. D was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving unregistered firearms. D tried to have the firearms suppressed as evidence and contended that they were seized illegally and the entrance into and search of the cabin was not authorized by the arrest warrant for Smith. D also claimed that the arrest warrant itself was improperly issued because probable cause was not determined solely on the affidavit of the police. The evidence was admitted over D's objections, and D was convicted. D appealed.

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