United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Deaver v. United States, 483 U.S. 1301 (1987)

Deaver v. United States

No. A-10

Decided July 1, 1987

483 U.S. 1301

Syllabus

An application by a former Government official to stay his imminent perjury trial pending this Court's disposition of his petition for certiorari is denied. After applicant was indicted following an independent counsel's investigation pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act, the District Court denied his motion to dismiss, which was based on a separation of powers challenge to that Act, and the Court of Appeals dismissed his appeal because the District Court's order is not a final decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. There is a fair prospect that a majority of this Court would not find the decision below erroneous, since the District Court's action did not terminate the litigation, and since applicant's constitutional challenge to the Act is not sufficiently collateral to fall within the limited exception enumerated in Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U. S. 541, in that consideration of the challenge here would result in piecemeal appellate review of an issue that can properly be presented to the appellate courts if and when applicant is convicted.