Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/161/29/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 05:01:39+00:00

Document:
The constitutional right of a defendant to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him entitles him to insist, at the outset, by demurrer or by motion to quash, and, after verdict, by motion in arrest of judgment, that the indictment shall apprise him of the crime charged with such reasonable certainty that he can make his defence and protect himself after judgment against another prosecution for the same offence, and this right is not infringed by the omission from the indictment of indecent and obscene matter, alleged as not proper to be spread upon the records of the court, provided the crime charged, however general the language used, is yet so described as reasonably to inform the accused of the nature of the charge sought to be established against him, and in such case the accused may apply to the court before the trial is entered upon for a bill of particulars, showing what parts of the paper would be relied on by the prosecution as being obscene, lewd, and lascivious, which motion will be granted or refused, as the court, in the exercise of a sound legal discretion, may find necessary to the ends of justice.
The inquiry, in proceedings under Rev. Stat. § 3893, is whether the paper charged to have been obscene, lewd, and lascivious was in fact of that character, and if it was of that character and was deposited in the mail by one who knew or had notice at the time of its contents, the offense is complete, although the defendant himself did not regard the paper as one that the statute forbade to be carried in the mails.
by decency, purity, and chastity in social life, and what must be deemed obscene, lewd, and lascivious.
When the evidence before the jury, if clear and uncontradicted upon any issue made by the parties, presents a question of law, the court can, without usurping the functions of the jury, instruct them as to the principles applicable to the case made by such evidence.
"every obscene, lewd, or lascivious book, pamphlet, picture, paper, writing, print, or other publication of an indecent character, . . . and every article or thing intended or adapted for any indecent or immoral use, and every written or printed card, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any kind giving information, directly or indirectly, where or how, or of whom, or by what means, any of the hereinbefore mentioned matters, articles, or things may be obtained or made, . . . are hereby declared to be nonmailable matter, and shall not be conveyed in the mails nor delivered from any post office nor by any letter carrier, and any person who shall knowingly deposit, or cause to be deposited, for mailing or delivery, anything declared by this section to be nonmailable matter, and any person who shall knowingly take the same, or cause the same to be taken, from the mails, for the purpose of circulating, or disposing of, or of aiding in the circulation or disposition of the same, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall for each and every offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor not less than one year nor more than ten years, or both at the discretion of the court. . . ."
upon without objection in any form to the indictment as not sufficiently informing the defendant of the nature of the charge against him.
The defendant thereupon moved in arrest of judgment upon the ground that the indictment did not charge that he knew at the time what were the contents of the paper deposited in the mail and alleged to be lewd, obscene, and lascivious. This motion was also denied, and the accused was sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor during a period of thirteen months and to pay a fine of one dollar.
The paper "Broadway," referred to in the indictment, was produced in evidence first by the United States, and afterwards by the accused. The copy read in evidence by the government was the one which, it was admitted at the trial, the defendant had caused to be deposited in the mail. The pictures of females appearing in that copy were, by direction of the defendant, partially covered with lamp black that could be easily erased with a piece of bread. The object of sending them out in that condition was, of course, to excite a curiosity to know what was thus concealed. The accused read in evidence a copy that he characterized as a "clean" one, and in which the pictures of females, in different attitudes of indecency, were not obscured by lamp black.
The defendant having indicated his purpose to bring the case here for review, the court below ordered these papers to be sent to the clerk of this Court with the transcript of the proceedings below.
to be deposited in the post office of the City of New York, for mailing and delivery by the post office establishment of the United States, a certain obscene, lewd, and lascivious paper, which said paper then and there, on the first page thereof, was entitled 'Tenderloin Number, Broadway,' and on the same page were printed the words and figures following, that is to say: 'Volume II, number 27; trademark, 1892; by Lew Rosen; New York, Saturday, April 15, 1893; ten cents a copy, $4.00 a year in advance,' and thereupon, on the same page, is the picture of a cab, horse, driver, and the figure of a female, together (underneath the said picture) with the word 'Tenderloineuse,' and the said paper consists of twelve pages, minute description of which, with the pictures therein and thereon would be offensive to the court and improper to spread upon the records of the court because of their obscene, lewd, and indecent matters, and the said paper, on the said twenty-fourth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, was enclosed in a wrapper, and addressed as follows, that is to say: 'Mr. Geo. Edwards, P.O. Box 510, Summit, N.J.' -- against the peace of the United States and their dignity, and contrary to the statute of the United States in such case made and provided."
Undoubtedly the mere depositing in the mail of a writing, paper, or other publication of an obscene, lewd, or lascivious character is not an offense under the statute if the person making the deposit was at the time and in good faith, without knowledge, information, or notice of its contents. The indictment would have been in better form if it had more distinctly charged that the accused was aware of its character. But this defect should be regarded, after verdict and under the circumstances attending the trial, as one of form, under section 1025 of the Revised Statutes, providing that the proceedings on an indictment found by a grand jury in any district, circuit, or other court of the United States shall not be affected "by reason of any defect or imperfection in matter of form only, which shall not tend to the prejudice of the defendant." United States v. Chase, 27 F. 807; United States v. Clark, 37 F. 106.
The indictment on its face implies that the defendant owned or managed the paper "Broadway." He admitted at the trial that he owned and controlled it. He did not pretend that he was ignorant at the time of the contents of the particular number that he caused to be put in the post office at New York. The general charge that he "unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly deposited and caused to be deposited in the post office . . . a certain obscene, lewd, and lascivious paper" (describing it by its name, volume, number, date of trademark, date of issue, and as having on it the name of Lew Rosen, proprietor, the same name borne by the defendant), may not unreasonably be construed as meaning that the defendant was, and must have been, aware of the nature of its contents at the time he caused it to be put into the post office for transmission and delivery. Of course, he did not understand the government as claiming that the mere depositing in the post office of an obscene, lewd, and lascivious paper was an offense under the statute, if the person so depositing it had neither knowledge nor notice at the time, of its character or contents. He must have understood from the words of the indictment that the government imputed to him knowledge or notice of the contents of the paper so deposited.
In their ordinary acceptation, the words "unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly," when applied to an act or thing done, import knowledge of the act or thing so done, as well as an evil intent or bad purpose in doing such thing, and when used in an indictment in connection with the charge of having deposited in the mails an obscene, lewd, and lascivious paper, contrary to the statute in such case made and provided, could not have been construed as applying to the mere depositing in the mail of a paper the contents of which at the time were wholly unknown to the person depositing it. The case is therefore not one of the total omission from the indictment of an essential averment, but, at most, one of the inaccurate or imperfect statement of a fact, and such statement, after verdict, may be taken in the broadest sense authorized by the words used, even if it be adverse to the accused.
fatally defective in that it did not set out with reasonable particularity those parts of the paper relied on to support the charge in the indictment. He insists that the omission from the indictment of a description of the pictures of female figures found in the paper was in violation of the constitutional guaranty that the defendant in a criminal case shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. Sixth Amendment.
A defendant is informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him if the indictment contains such description of the offense charged as will enable him to make his defense, and to plead the judgment in bar of any further prosecution for the same crime. Does the indictment in this case meet these requirements? It describes the paper alleged to be obscene, lewd, and lascivious with such minuteness as to leave no possible doubt as to its identity. If the defendant did not have in his possession or could not procure a duplicate of such paper, he could have applied to the court for an order that he be furnished with a bill of particulars to the end that he might properly defend himself at the trial. United States v. Bennett, 16 Blatchford 338, 351; Rex v. Hodgson, 3 Car. & P. 422; Wharton's Cr.Pl.&Or, § 702. He made no such application, but went to trial without suggesting that he was not sufficiently informed by the indictment of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. When the paper in question was produced in evidence, he made no objection to it as not being sufficiently described in the indictment, but, at the conclusion of the evidence on the part of the prosecution, moved to dismiss, on the ground that the paper was not obscene. This motion having been overruled, he testified in his own behalf, offering in evidence a duplicate of the same paper, admitting that lamp black (capable of being easily removed, so as to bring each offensive picture in full view of any person receiving or inspecting the paper) had by his direction been put on the entire edition of April 15, 1893. He now insists that the indictment was fatally defective because it did not disclose in detail the contents of the twelve pages that were charged to constitute and obscene, lewd, and lascivious paper.
If it be said that he did not know what parts of the twelve pages were considered by the grand jury as obscene, lewd, and lascivious, the answer is that he was not entitled to know what passed in the conferences of grand jurors. He was not entitled to show, as matter of defense, that the grand jury proceeded on insufficient grounds. He had to meet only the case made by the indictment and by the evidence adduced by the government, and if he wished to be informed, before entering upon the trial, what particular parts of the paper would be relied on as bringing the case within the statute, he could, as already suggested, have applied for a bill of particulars, which the court, in the exercise of a sound legal discretion, might have granted or refused as the ends of justice required.
"If the omission is in the indictment -- if that be the objection, and it be a valid one -- it is an objection that ought to have been taken by demurrer, and therefore I cannot help thinking that, upon the balance of convenience, we shall act more wisely in saying that the judgment pronounced on this indictment ought not to be set aside by making the motion absolute to arrest the judgment; but if there be any valid foundation for the contention the defendants have raised upon the indictment, it should be taken by demurrer."
"in every kind of crime which consists in words, if the words complained of are not set out in the indictment or information, the objection is fatal in arrest of judgment."
"I would strike out of the category of the cases which we are considering all cases with regard to obscene prints and obscene pictures. The publication of obscene prints and obscene pictures may be in one sense libelous, but they are not words, and therefore they do not seem to me to fall within the rules as to criminal pleadings which we are considering here today."
Bradlaugh v. Queen, 3 Q.B.D. 607, 634.
"We do not know that the picture had any name, and therefore it might be impossible to designate it by name. What then is expected? Must the indictment describe minutely the attitude and posture of the figures? I am for paying some respect to the chastity of our records. These are circumstances which may be well omitted. Whether the picture was really indecent the jury might judge from the evidence, or, if necessary, from inspection. The witnesses could identify it. I am of opinion that the description is sufficient."
would be to require that the public itself should give permanency and notoriety to indecency in order to punish it."
"In indictments for offenses of this description, it is not always necessary that the contents of the publication should be inserted; but whenever it is necessary to do so, or whenever the indictment undertakes to state the contents, whether necessary or not, the same rule prevails as in the case of libel -- that is to say, the alleged obscene publication must be set out in the very words of which it is composed, and the indictment must undertake or profess to do so, by the use of appropriate language. The excepted cases occur whenever a publication of this character is so obscene as to render it improper that it should appear on the record, and then the statement of the contents may be omitted altogether, and a description thereof substituted; but in this case, a reason for the omission must appear in the indictment, by proper averments. The case of Commonwealth v. Holmes, 17 Mass. 336, furnishes both an authority and a precedent for this form of pleading."
In Commonwealth v. McCance, 164 Mass. 162, an indictment charging the defendant with selling a certain book containing, among other things, obscene language was held to be insufficient. The court distinguished the case before it from previous cases, and said that while the principle announced in Commonwealth v. Holmes must be regarded as an exception to the general rule relating to libelous publications, the weight of authority in this country was in favor of that decision.
of justice to perpetuate and give notoriety to an indecent publication before its author could be visited for the great wrong he may have done to the public or to individuals. And there is no hardship in this rule. To convict the defendant, he must be shown to have published the libel. If he is the publisher, he must be presumed to have been advised of the contents of the libel, and fully prepared to justify it. The indictment in this cause corresponds with the precedents to be found in books of the highest merit."
"Ordinarily the indictment in a case like the present should set forth the book or publication in haec verba, the same as in indictments for libel or forgery. This seems to be an acknowledged principle in the books. But even in indictments for forgery it may be excused, as if the forged instrument is in the possession of the opposite party. So also in a case like the present, if the publication be of so gross a character that spreading it upon the record will be an offense against decency, it may be excused, as all the English precedents show. Some of the precedents are much like the present, describing the obscene character of the publication in general terms. But more generally, the nature of the publication is more specifically described. But in both cases, the principle of the case is the same. If the paper is of a character to offend decency and outrage modesty, it need not be so spread upon the record as to produce that effect. And if it is alleged in such case to be a publication within the general terms in which the offense is defined by the statute, it is sufficient, which seems to be done in the present case. The degree of particularity with which the paper could be described without exposing its grossness would depend something upon the nature of that feature, whether it consisted in the words used or the general description given. In the former case, it could not be more particularly described than it here is without offending decency. "
"it was necessary to set out the supposed obscene matter in the indictment, unless the obscene publication is in the hands of the defendant, or out of the power of the prosecution, or the matter is too gross and obscene to be spread on the records of the court, either of which facts, if existing, should be averred in the indictment, as an excuse for failing to set out the obscene matter; that whether obscene or not is a question of law, and not of fact; that the question is for the court to determine, and not for the jury."
To the same effect are Fuller v. People, 92 Ill. 182, 184; State v. Smith, 17 R.I. 371, 374-375.
"did unlawfully and knowingly deposit, and cause to be deposited, in the mail of the United States, then and there, for mailing and delivery, a certain obscene, lewd, and lascivious book, called 'Cupid's Yokes, or the Binding Forces of Conjugal Life,' which said book is so lewd, obscene, and lascivious that the same would be offensive to the court here, and improper to be placed upon the records thereof, wherefore the jurors aforesaid do not set forth the same in this indictment."
could have been obtained before the trial by asking for a bill of particulars. The defendant was not deprived of the right 'to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.' The weight of authority as well as of reasoning is in favor of the sufficiency of the present indictment."
The doctrine to be deduced from the American cases is that the constitutional right of the defendant to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him entitles him to insist at the outset, by demurrer or by motion to quash, and, after verdict, by motion in arrest of judgment, that the indictment shall apprise him of the crime charged with such reasonable certainty that he can make his defense and protect himself after judgment against another prosecution for the same offense; that this right is not infringed by the omission from the indictment of indecent and obscene matter alleged as not proper to be spread upon the records of the court, provided the crime charged, however general the language used, is yet so described as reasonably to inform the accused of the nature of the charge sought to be established against him, and that in such case the accused may apply to the court be fore the trial is entered upon for a bill of particulars, showing what parts of the paper would be relied on by the prosecution as being obscene, lewd, and lascivious, which motion will be granted or refused, as the court, in the exercise of a sound legal discretion, may find necessary to the ends of justice.
jury could have been instructed upon that subject at the instance of either party. But, as we have already said, the defendant did not ask for a bill of particulars nor object to the indictment as insufficient, but made his defense upon the broad ground that the paper that he caused to be deposited in the post office was not obscene, lewd, or lascivious.
determining whether the statute has been violated. Everyone who uses the mails of the United States for carrying papers or publications must take notice of what, in this enlightened age, is meant by decency, purity, and chastity in social life and what must be deemed obscene, lewd, and lascivious.
"The law was actually violated by the defendant. He placed letters in the post office which conveyed information as to where obscene matter could be obtained, and he placed them there with a view of giving such information to the person who should actually receive those letters, no matter what his name, and the fact that the person who wrote under those assumed names and received his letters was a government detective in no manner detracts from his guilt."
"certain prohibited pictures and prints were drawn out of the defendant by a decoy letter written by a government detective was no defense to an indictment for mailing such prohibited publications."
"the test of obscenity is whether the tendency of the matter is to deprave and corrupt the morals of those whose minds are open to such influence, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall."
"Would it," the court said, "suggest or convey lewd thoughts and lascivious thoughts to the young and inexperienced?" In view of the character of the paper, as an inspection of it will instantly disclose, the test prescribed for the jury was quite as liberal as the defendant had any right to demand.
Other questions are discussed in the elaborate brief filed for the defendant. Some of them do not require notice; other were not sufficiently saved by exceptions at the proper time, and will not therefore be considered or determined.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE, with whom concurred MR. JUSTICE SHIRAS, dissenting.
It was claimed at the bar of this Court that the indictment was absolutely void because it failed to set forth an offense against the law of the United States. This contention rested on two propositions: first, that the indictment did not on its face contain a statement of the obscene matter charged to have been illegally mailed; second, because, even if the failure to so state was excused by the allegation in the indictment that the matter was too obscene and offensive to be repeated, the indictment was nonetheless absolutely void because it failed to give an identifying reference to that which the grand jury found to be obscene.
in the courts of the United States are not binding authorities, and, although they may be expressly in point, yet, if they are contrary to our law, they must be disregarded."
"The charge is not of sending obscene matter through the mails, in which case some description might be necessary, both for identification of the offense and to enable the court to determine whether the matter was obscene, and therefore nonmailable. Even in such cases, it held that it is unnecessary to spread the obscene matter in all its filthiness upon the record; it is enough to so far describe it that its obnoxious character may be discerned."
Amendment to the Constitution, only be by indictment. The necessity for identifying references in the indictment to the obscene matter upon which the grand jury makes its finding is an essential part of the rule dispensing with the obligation of stating the obscene matter, in so many words, in the indictment. The reason upon which the English rule rests is that spreading in full the obscene matter is essential to protect the accused in his rights, to enable him to move to quash, or in arrest of judgment, or to present on review by error the validity or invalidity of the indictment. The American rule is based upon the reason that such spreading upon the record is not essential to protect the rights of the accused because the obscene matter, passed on by the grand jury, can be so identified by a reference to it in the indictment as to enable it to be, by bill of particulars or otherwise, readily supplied for all the purposes of defense; hence the omission deprives the accused of no substantial right, while subserving the ends of public morality and decency.
"selling a certain book then and there called 'The Decameron of Boccaccio,' and which said book upon the title page thereof was then and there of the tenor following [describing the title page], . . . which said book then and there contained, among other things, certain obscene, indecent, and impure language, . . . which said book is so lewd, obscene, indecent, and impure that the same would be offensive to the court, and improper to be placed upon the records thereof."
from the face thereof what was the particular matter upon which the grand jury acted. In consequence of so holding, the judgment was reversed and the verdict set aside. See also Babcock v. United States, 34 F. 873.
result logically leads to the recognition of the right of a grand jury to present without stating or referring to the facts upon which its presentment is made, and also concedes the power of a prosecuting officer to supply matter in an indictment, and thus make that which is absolutely void a valid instrument. The wisdom of the rule announced in Commonwealth v. McCance was well illustrated by the indictment presented in that case, as it is by the alleged indictment under consideration here. Will it be said that an indictment which charged that an accused published obscene matter contained in twenty volumes of books called the Encyclopaedia Britannica or Americana, giving the title page, and followed by the statement that a more minute description would be offensive to morality, would be adequate? And yet what difference would exist, except in degree, between such an indictment and the one here held to be valid? Nor is it logical to say that, as an accused has no right to know the secrets of a grand jury room, therefore he is not entitled to be informed as to the matter upon which the grand jury bases its presentment. The Constitution forbids, in a certain class of cases, prosecution except by indictment, and therefore, to the extent that such knowledge is essential to constitute a valid instrument, the accused is entitled, under the Constitution, to know the secrets of the grand jury room.
If these views as to the necessity of an identifying reference, supported, as we think they are, by the statement of the court in Grimm v. United States and the ruling of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in Commonwealth v. McCance be sound, their application to this case is clear.
jury. In other words, using the identification of the paper given by the indictment, the mind looks in vain for any reference to the particular things found in the paper which were considered as within the statute.
"And the said paper consists of twelve pages, minute description of which, with the pictures therein and thereon, would be offensive to the court, and improper to spread upon the records of the court, because of their obscene, lewd, and indecent matters."
This is not an allegation that the entire contents of the publication were obscene, because if that was intended, there would be no necessity of referring to a "minute description" of the paper as essential to disclose the obscene matter. It can reasonably only bear the construction that the publication was claimed to be obscene because of "obscene, lewd, and indecent matters" appearing somewhere in the publication. It is evident therefore that particular matter contained in the twelve pages was contemplated, and that the indictment furnishes no means for ascertaining in what this matter consists, by reference or otherwise.
"We are of opinion that it was not within the power of the accused or his counsel to dispense with the statutory requirements as to his personal presence at the trial. The argument to the contrary necessarily proceeds upon the ground that he alone is concerned as to the mode by which he may be deprived of his life or liberty, and that the chief object of the prosecution is to punish him for the crime charged. But this is a mistaken view as well as of the relations which the accused holds to the public as of the end of human punishment. The natural life, says Blackstone,"
"cannot legally be disposed of or destroyed by any individual, neither by the person himself nor by any other of his fellow creatures, merely upon their own authority."
trial -- that is, at every stage of the trial -- when his substantial rights may be affected by the proceedings against him. If he be deprived of his life or liberty without being so present, such deprivation would be without that due process of law required by the Constitution.
"If, in a case where the Constitution gives the defendant the right to be tried by an indictment, the legislature should undertake to authorize such amendments as leave the indictment no longer the finding of the grand jury, an amendment under it would oust the jurisdiction of the court, and the cause must stop. Such is the substance of the authorities, though the doctrine is always not stated in these words."
(1 Bish.New Crim.Proc. § 97, p. 55, and authorities there cited; Whart.Cr.Pl. & Proc. § 90, sub. 2, and authorities there cited.) The legislative authority not being competent to authorize an amendment so as to convert a void into a valid indictment, surely a prosecuting officer can have no such power.
The indictment being, as we think, fatally defective in failing to state an offense, which defect could not be supplied in the court below and cannot be so supplied here without converting an absolutely void into a valid indictment and thus violate the Constitution, which secures the accused an immunity from prosecution except upon presentment by a grand jury, the verdict and judgment should be reversed.

References: § 3893
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 § 702
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 § 97
 § 90