Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/354/118/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 12:07:05+00:00

Document:
In the circumstances of this case, the custodian of a union's books and records, who had failed to produce them before a federal grand jury pursuant to subpoena, could, on the ground of his privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, lawfully refuse to answer questions asked by the grand jury as to the whereabouts of such books and records, and his conviction of criminal contempt for refusing to answer such questions is reversed. Pp. 354 U. S. 118-128.
(a) Though the custodian of the books and records of a corporation or a labor union may not, on grounds of possible self-incrimination, refuse to produce them pursuant to subpoena, he cannot lawfully be compelled, in the absence of a grant of adequate immunity from prosecution, to condemn himself by his own oral testimony. Pp. 354 U. S. 122-128.
(b) In the circumstances of this case, the questions which petitioner refused to answer were incriminating. P. 121, n 2.
234 F.2d 470 reversed and remanded.
answer questions asked by a federal grand jury as to the whereabouts of such books and records which he has not produced pursuant to subpoena. For the reasons hereafter stated, we hold that the privilege against self-incrimination attaches to such questions.
In April, 1956, a special grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York was investigating racketeering in the garment and trucking industries in New York City. This investigation followed widespread charges of racketeering in labor unions, including specific charges that seven local unions had been recently chartered by a faction of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to gain control of the Teamsters' New York Joint Council, and that these "phantom unions" were controlled by a group of gangsters, ex-convicts, and labor racketeers.
Petitioner, Joseph Curcio, the secretary-treasurer of Local 269 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the alleged "phantom unions," was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, and to produce the union's books and records. There were two subpoenas -- a personal subpoena ad testificandum and a subpoena duces tecum addressed to him in his capacity as secretary-treasurer of Local 269. On several days, he appeared before the grand jury but failed to produce the demanded books and records. He testified that he was the secretary-treasurer of Local 269; that the union had books and records; but that they were not then in his possession. He refused, on the ground of self-incrimination, to answer any questions pertaining to the whereabouts, or who had possession, of the books and records he had been ordered to produce.
incriminate him. When petitioner persisted in his refusal to answer, the District Court summarily adjudged him guilty of criminal contempt, and sentenced him to six months' confinement unless he sooner purged himself by answering the questions. This conviction related solely to petitioner's failure to answer questions asked pursuant to the personal subpoena ad testificandum. He has not been charged with failing to produce the books and records demanded in the subpoena duces tecum.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. 234 F.2d 470. It held that petitioner had failed to show that his answers to the 15 questions might incriminate him; that the privilege against self-incrimination did not attach to questions put to a custodian relating to the whereabouts of union books; and that petitioner had been accorded a fair hearing. We granted certiorari to determine whether petitioner's claim of privilege was properly denied. 352 U.S. 820.
"We make no claim that, if petitioner's personal privilege did apply to questions concerning the union records, he failed to make an adequate showing of possible incrimination."
We turn, therefore, to the remaining issue -- whether petitioner's personal privilege against self-incrimination attaches to questions relating to the whereabouts of the union books and records which he did not produce pursuant to subpoena.
It is settled that a corporation is not protected by the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. A corporate officer may not withhold testimony or documents on the ground that his corporation would be incriminated. Hale v. Henkel, 201 U. S. 43. Nor may the custodian of corporate books or records withhold them on the ground that he personally might be incriminated by their production. Wilson v. United States, 221 U. S. 361; Essgee Co. v. United States, 262 U. S. 151. Even after the dissolution of a corporation and the transfer of its books to individual stockholders, the transferees may not invoke their privilege with respect to the former corporate records. Grant v. United States, 227 U. S. 74; Wheeler v. United States, 226 U. S. 478. The foregoing cases stand for the principle that the books and records of corporations cannot be insulated from reasonable demands of governmental authorities by a claim of personal privilege on the part of their custodian.
the privilege protects must be the private property of the person claiming the privilege, or at least in his possession in a purely personal capacity"
(id. at 322 U. S. 699).
"But individuals, when acting as representatives of a collective group, cannot be said to be exercising their personal rights and duties nor to be entitled to their purely personal privileges. Rather, they assume the rights, duties, and privileges of the artificial entity or association of which they are agents or officers and they are bound by its obligations. In their official capacity, therefore, they have no privilege against self-incrimination. And the official records and documents of the organization that are held by them in a representative, rather than in a personal, capacity cannot be the subject of the personal privilege against self-incrimination, even though production of the papers might tend to incriminate them personally."
Id. at 322 U. S. 699.
the obligation to produce the books of which he is custodian in response to a rightful exercise of the State's visitorial powers. But he cannot lawfully be compelled, in the absence of a grant of adequate immunity from prosecution, to condemn himself by his own oral testimony.
"They [the custodians of corporate records] may decline to utter upon the witness stand a single self-criminating word. They may demand that any accusation against them individually be established without the aid of their oral testimony or the compulsory production by them of their private papers."
privilege" only with respect to the production of the records themselves. Wilson v. United States, 221 U. S. 361, 221 U. S. 380.
difference between them. The compulsory production of corporate or association records by their custodian is readily justifiable, even though the custodian protests against it for personal reasons, because he does not own the records and has no legally cognizable interest in them. However, forcing the custodian to testify orally as to the whereabouts of nonproduced records requires him to disclose the contents of his own mind. He might be compelled to convict himself out of his own mouth. That is contrary to the spirit and letter of the Fifth Amendment.
Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the District Court with instructions to enter a judgment of acquittal.
"I am going to ask you certain questions, including some that were put to you on Thursday, which you declined to answer. Referring to the books and records of Local 269 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have you at any time been in custody of those books and records? . . ."
"Mr. Curcio, have you ever had possession of the books and records of this local? . . ."
"Did you have custody and control of these records last Thursday? . . ."
"Do you have possession of those records or any of them today? . . ."
"Do you have custody and control of any of those records today? . . ."
"Where are any of those records today, if you know? . . ."
"Who has any of those records today, if you know? . . ."
"Where were any of these records or all of these records a week ago Thursday? . . ."
"Where were any or all of these records a week ago Saturday? . . ."
"Where were any or all of these records a week ago last Monday? . . ."
"Where were any or all of these records yesterday? . . ."
"Where are any or all of these records today? . . ."
"Who, if you know, had any or all of these records a week ago last Saturday? . . ."
"Who had any or all of these records a week ago yesterday? . . ."
"Who has any or all of these records today? . . ."
The grand jury was investigating union racketeering. The newspapers had featured charges that petitioner's union was one of seven "phantom locals" of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and that it was dominated by gangsters and racketeers. Petitioner conceded that he had a prison record, and it was charged that the president of Local 269 was Johnny DioGuardia, allegedly one of the key figures in union racketeering in the New York area. In this context, the questions were incriminating. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1503 and 1951.
"To sustain the privilege, it need only be evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result."
Hoffman v. United States, 341 U. S. 479, 341 U. S. 486-487. See also Trock v. United States, 351 U.S. 976; Emspak v. United States, 349 U. S. 190; Singleton v. United States, 343 U.S. 944; Greenberg v. United States, 343 U.S. 918.
Pulford v. United States, 155 F.2d 944, 947; Lumber Products Assn. v. United States, 144 F.2d 546, 553; Carolene Products Co. v. United States, 140 F.2d 61, 66-67; United States v. Illinois Alcohol Co., 45 F.2d 145, 149. See also, United States v. Lay Fish Co., 13 F.2d 136, 137.
"That the production of the books and documents could be compelled, even if they contained entries incriminating the accused, is now well settled law. . . . However, the availability of the documents does not necessarily determine that of the testimony by which they may be authenticated. Conceivably it might be possible to force their production, and yet their possessor be protected from proving by his oath that they were what they purport to be. . . ."
"While, therefore, we do not disguise tenuous, distinction, we think that the greater includes the less, and that, since greater includes the less, and that, since the production can be forced, it may be made effective by compelling the producer to declare that the documents are genuine. . . . Hence, it appears to us that the case Heike v. United States, 227 U. S. 131, determines that testimony auxiliary to the production is as unprivileged as are the documents themselves. By accepting the office of custodian the holder not only exposes himself to producing the documents, but to making their use possible without requiring other proof than his own."
"we do not believe that the principle of the Austin-Bagley case, supra, may be projected so that a corporate officer may be compelled to testify as to any and all phases of the corporation's activities, without at the same time obtaining a grant of immunity for the incriminating matter he is compelled to disclose."
And further, that "the production of records must be distinguished from oral testimony as to what the records would contain, had they been produced." Id. at 862. Subsequently, in United States v. Patterson, 219 F.2d 659, 662, the court, in reversing a contempt conviction for refusal to produce records, approved the trial court's ruling that questions relating to the whereabouts of the records were privileged.
"The defendant can here legally be jailed only for a contempt in failing to produce the sought-after books when they are fairly shown to be presently within his power and control. He cannot legally be jailed for contempt for invoking his constitutionally protected privilege not to be a witness against himself."
See also, Lopiparo v. United States, 216 F.2d 87, where the trial court upheld the custodian's claim of privilege with respect to oral testimony pertaining to corporate records.
In this case petitioner might have been proceeded against for his failure to produce the records demanded by the subpoena duces tecum. See Nilva v. United States, 352 U. S. 385; United States v. Fleischman, 339 U. S. 349; United States v. White, 322 U. S. 694; Wilson v. United States, 221 U. S. 361.

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