Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-06-28

N~AA2 aM4SM.&Mgn
IBrownell said. However, there
lis an Immediate need for legis-
Ilation to clarity the procedure
to be followed in applying such
10 principle. Otherwise serious
harm will be done to Federal
law enforcement"
Mr.. Erownell said his depart
ment supports the O'Mahoney
bill. He declared that this
measure Is intended to cor
rect Q grave emergency in law
enforcement which has resulted
from the decision Of the Supreme
Court in Jencks vs.. U. s."
The Attorney General did not
refer In his opening statement to
1.-THE action Of q House Judiciary
Subcommittee late yesterday In
approving q somewhat stricter
bill sponsored by Representative
Walter. Democrat of Penusyl-
wanna. Representative Heating,
Republican Of New York, spon-
sored q bill favored by the adj
ministration and almost identi-
cal with the O'Mahoney bill. The
House group. however. side
tracked it and adopted the
Walter measure.
Entire Reports Held JeOpardized
Mr.. Brownell explained that
the most serious problem which
has arisen as q result Of conflict
ing interpretations of the Jencks
decision is "the insistence by
some lower courts that entire re-
ports Of the FBI or other Federal
investigative agencies be handed
over to defense counsel even
though only small part Of the
report related to the testimony
Of q Government witness.
1.-THE uncovering Of conf
Dental informants, particularly
in the internal security field,
would cut on intelligence
sources. and in some instances
endanger the lives Of the in
formants. Moreover, FBI re-
ports may contain information
gathered by other intelligence
investigative agencies, including
those Of friendly allied coun-
tries exchanging information on
q cooperative basis under this
Governments commitment that
their identities will not be dis
closed without prior consulta.
ton"
Some Cases abandoned
Insisting that some FBI re.
ports have become jeopardizec
as a result Of various interpre.
tations Of the Jencks decision
Mr.. Brownell cited several in.
stances in which the Govern.
ment already has decided t.
abandon prosecution rather
than reveal any portions of FBl
reports.
I He said also that interpreta
lions Of the Jencks case likewise
threaten to upset criminal con.
lvictions already obtained in q
wide variety of cases. He men.
toned two such cases that came
to the departments attention
within the last few days an6
. night result in the freeing Of .
convicted tax evader and foul
convicted kidnapers.
Advantages Listed
After Chairman O'Mahoney
disclosed that the pending Sen.
ate bill resulted from confer.
ences between Justice Depart.
ment ofiicials and several Sen.
ators. Mr.. Brownell provided thi.
summary Of the measures prin.
ciple advantages from the point
of view of the Justice Depart
ment:
Il. 1t provides that only re-
ports or statements which relate
to the subject matter as to which
the witness has testified are sub
ject to production in court.
-. 1t gives to the court the
power to cut out from any such
statement or report matter which
does not relate to the subject
matter Of the testimony of the
witness who made it. Thus re-
ports about other persons or
transactions. information dis
closing the ,techniques of investi-
cation, and all other extraneous
matter would be safeguarded by
the court.
%. The bill makes it clear that
the Government need produce
only reports or statements Of a
witness which are signed by him
or otherwise adopted or approved
by him as correct.
a. It provides that state
ments and reports to be used for
Impeachment Of a Government
witness are not subject to pro-
duction until the witness has
been called and has testified for
the Government.
Is. It provides that If the Gov
eminent declines to produce such
q statement or report the court
shall either strike out the testi-
mony affected or order a mis-
trial. Since the Jencks decision
courts have dismissed the prose-
cution completely where the
Government has found compile
ance with a production order un.
i 0Naanfah1 -