Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/353/391/
Timestamp: 2019-06-18 19:22:43
Document Index: 606169957

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 371', '§ 1503', '§ 1503', '§ 1040', 'art 2', 'art 1']

Grunewald v. United States :: 353 U.S. 391 (1957) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 353 › Grunewald v. United States
2. The judge's charge to the jury was not adequate to justify petitioners' conviction on the theory that the main objective of the conspiracy was not merely to obtain the initial "no prosecution"
The three petitioners were convicted on Count 1 of an indictment brought under 18 U.S.C. § 371 [Footnote 1] for conspiracy to defraud the United States with reference to certain tax matters. Petitioner Halperin was also convicted on Counts 5, 6, and 7 of the same indictment, charging him with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1503 [Footnote 2] by endeavoring corruptly to influence certain witnesses before a grand jury which was investigating matters involved in the conspiracy charged in Count 1 of the indictment. Each petitioner was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and fined under Count 1. On each of Counts 5, 6, and 7, Halperin was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of $1,000, the prison sentences on these Counts and that on Count 1 to run concurrently. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed, with the late Judge Frank dissenting. 233 F.2d 556. We granted certiorari, 352 U. S. 866, in order to resolve important questions relating to (a) the statute of limitations in conspiracy
The proofs at the trial presented a sordid picture of a ring engaged in the business of "fixing" tax fraud cases
Subsequent activities of the conspirators were directed at concealing the irregularities in the disposition of the Patullo and Gotham cases. Bolich attempted to have the Bureau of Internal Revenue report on the Patullo case "doctored," and careful steps were taken to cover up the traces of the cash fees paid to Grunewald. In 1951, a congressional investigation was started by the King Committee of the House of Representatives; the conspirators felt themselves threatened, and took steps to hide their traces. Thus, Bolich caused the disappearance
The indictment in these cases was returned on October 25, 1954. It was therefore incumbent on the Government to prove that the conspiracy, as contemplated in the agreement as finally formulated, was still in existence on October 25, 1951, and that at least one overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy was performed after that date. [Footnote 9] For where substantiation of a conspiracy charge
Petitioners, in contending that this prosecution was barred by limitations, state that the object of the conspiratorial agreement was a narrow one: to obtain "no prosecution" rulings in the two tax cases. When these rulings were obtained, in October, 1948, in the case of Gotham Beef, and in January, 1949, in the case of Patullo Modes, the criminal object of the conspiracy, petitioners say, was attained, and the conspirators' function ended. They argue, therefore, that the statute of limitations started running no later than January, 1949, and that the
Second, and alternatively, the Government contends that the central aim of the conspiracy was to obtain
In Krulewitch, the question before the Court was whether certain hearsay declarations could be introduced against one of the conspirators. The declarations in question were made by one named in the indictment as a co-conspirator after the main object of the conspiracy (transporting a woman to Florida for immoral purposes) had been accomplished. The Government argued that the conspiracy was not ended, however, since it included an implied subsidiary conspiracy to conceal the crime after its commission, and that the declarations were therefore still in furtherance of the conspiracy, and binding on
The crucial teaching of Krulewitch and Lutwak is that, after the central criminal purposes of a conspiracy have
A reading of the record before us reveals that, on the facts of this case, the distinction between "actual" and "implied" conspiracies to conceal, as urged upon us by the Government, is no more than a verbal tour de force. True, in both Krulewitch and Lutwak, there is language in the opinions stressing the fact that only an implied agreement to conceal was relied on. [Footnote 15] Yet, when we look to the facts of the present cases, we see that the evidence from which the Government here asks us to deduce an "actual" agreement to conceal reveals nothing beyond that adduced in prior cases. What is this evidence?
In effect, the differentiation pressed upon us by the Government is one of words rather than of substance. In Krulewitch it was urged that a continuing agreement to conceal should be implied out of the mere fact of conspiracy, and that acts of concealment should be taken as overt acts in furtherance of that implied agreement to
Prior cases in this Court have repeatedly warned that we will view with disfavor attempts to broaden the already pervasive and wide-sweeping nets of conspiracy prosecutions. [Footnote 17] The important considerations of policy behind such warnings need not be again detailed. See Jackson, J., concurring in Krulewitch v. United States, supra. It is these considerations of policy which govern our holding today. As this case was tried, we have before us a typical example of a situation where the Government,
We do not think the analogy is valid. Kidnappers in hiding, waiting for ransom, commit acts of concealment in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy itself, just as repainting a stolen car would be in furtherance of a conspiracy to steal; in both cases, the successful accomplishment of the crime necessitates concealment. [Footnote 18] More closely analogous to our case would be conspiring kidnappers who cover their traces after the main conspiracy is finally ended -- i.e., after they have abandoned the kidnapped person and then take care to escape detection. In the latter case, as here, the acts of covering up can, by
In view of how the case was submitted to the jury, we are also unable to accept the Government's second theory for avoiding the statute of limitations. This theory is (1) that the main objective of the conspiracy was not merely to obtain the initial "no prosecution" rulings in 1948 and 1949, but to obtain final immunity for Gotham and Patullo from criminal tax prosecution; (2) that such immunity was not obtained until 1952, when the statute of limitations had run on the tax evasion cases which the petitioners conspired to fix; [Footnote 19] (3) that the conspiracy therefore did not end until 1952, when this object was attained; (4) that the acts of concealment within the indictment period were overt acts in furtherance of this conspiracy; and (5) that the prosecution was thus timely. [Footnote 20] In short, the contention is that the agreement
233 F.2d at 564-565.
Furthermore, we agree with the Court of Appeals that there is evidence in this record which would warrant submission of the case to the jury on the theory that the central object of the conspiracy was not attained in 1948 and 1949, but rather was to immunize the taxpayers completely from prosecution for tax evasion, and thus continued into 1952. The many overt acts of concealment occurring after 1949 could easily have been motivated at
least in part by the purpose of the conspirators to deliver the remaining "installments" owing under the bargain -- to-wit, the safeguarding of the continued vitality of the "no prosecution" rulings. [Footnote 22] Furthermore, there is evidence showing that, from the beginning, the aim of the scheme was not restricted to the merely provisional and necessarily precarious "fixing" of the taxpayers' troubles which was achieved in 1948 and 1949. [Footnote 23] A jury might therefore
fairly infer that it was part of the conspiratorial agreement that Grunewald and Bolich would make continuing efforts to safeguard the fruits of the partial victories won in 1948 and 1949 by trying to immunize the "no prosecution" rulings from change. In other words, we think a jury could infer from this evidence that the conspirators were prepared and had agreed to engage in further frauds and bribery if necessary in order to maintain in effect the tentative rulings obtained in 1948 and 1949. [Footnote 24]
We are constrained to agree with Judge Frank that this charge did not adequately enlighten the jury as to what they would have to find in order to conclude that the conspiracy was still alive after October 25, 1951. For the charge as given failed completely to distinguish between concealment in order to achieve the central purpose of the conspiracy (that is, the immunization of the taxpayers from tax evasion prosecution), and concealment intended solely to cover up an already executed crime --
We thus find that the judge's charge left it open for the jury to convict even though they found that the acts of concealment were motivated purely by the purpose of the conspirators to cover up their already accomplished crime. And this, we think, was fatal error. For the facts in this record are equivocal. The jury might easily have
What we have held as to the statute of limitations disposes of the conviction of the three petitioners under Count 1, but does not touch Halperin's conviction on Counts 5, 6, and 7 for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1503. [Footnote 25] As to those Counts, Halperin, who took the stand in his own defense at the trial, contends (a) that the Government was improperly allowed to cross-examine him as to the assertion of his Fifth Amendment privilege before a grand jury investigating this conspiracy, before which he had been called as a witness, [Footnote 26] and (b) that the evidence did
When the Government cross-examined Halperin at the trial, some of the questions which he had been asked before the grand jury were put to him. [Footnote 27] He answered
each question in a way consistent with innocence. The Government was then allowed, over objection, to bring out in cross-examination that petitioner had pleaded his privilege before the grand jury as to these very questions. Later, in his charge to the jury, the trial judge informed them that petitioner's Fifth Amendment plea could be taken only as reflecting on his credibility, and that no inference as to guilt or innocence could be drawn therefrom as to Halperin or any co-defendant. [Footnote 28]
It is, of course, an elementary rule of evidence that prior statements may be used to impeach the credibility of a criminal defendant or an ordinary witness. But this can be done only if the judge is satisfied that the prior statements are in fact inconsistent. 3 Wigmore, Evidence,
§ 1040. And so the threshold question here is simply whether, in the circumstances of this case, the trial court erred in holding that Halperin's plea of the Fifth Amendment privilege before the grand jury involved such inconsistency with any of his trial testimony as to permit its use against him for impeachment purposes. [Footnote 30] We do not think that Raffel is properly to be read either as dispensing with the need for such preliminary scrutiny by the judge or as establishing as a matter of law that such a prior claim of privilege with reference to a question
The Court, in Raffel, did not focus on the question whether the cross-examination there involved was in fact probative in impeaching the defendant's credibility. In other words, we may assume that, under Raffel, Halperin in this case was subject to cross-examination impeaching his credibility just like any other witness, and that his Fifth Amendment plea before the grand jury could not carry over any form of immunity when he voluntarily took the stand at the trial. This does not, however, solve the question whether, in the particular circumstances of this case, the cross-examination should have been excluded because its probative value on the issue of Halperin's credibility was so negligible as to be far outweighed by its possible impermissible impact on the jury. [Footnote 32] As we consider that, in the
When we pass to the issue of credibility, we deem it evident that Halperin's claim of the Fifth Amendment privilege before the Brooklyn grand jury in response to questions which he answered at the trial was wholly consistent with innocence. Had he answered the questions put to him before the grand jury in the same way he subsequently answered them at trial, this nevertheless
Second, the Fifth Amendment claim was made before a grand jury where Halperin was a compelled, and not a voluntary, witness; where he was not represented by counsel; where he could summon no witnesses; and where he had no opportunity to cross-examine witnesses testifying against him. These factors are crucial in weighing whether a plea of the privilege is inconsistent with later exculpatory testimony on the same questions, for the nature of the tribunal which subjects the witness to questioning bears heavily on what inferences can be drawn from a plea of the Fifth Amendment. See Griswold, supra, at 62. Innocent men are more likely to plead the privilege in secret proceedings, where they testify
We are not unmindful that the question whether a prior statement is sufficiently inconsistent to be allowed to go to the jury on the question of credibility is usually within the discretion of the trial judge. But where such evidentiary matter has grave constitutional overtones, as
233 F.2d at 559-562.
It should be mentioned that the Court of Appeals was unanimous in finding that there was sufficient evidence in the record to warrant the submission of the case to the jury on the theory that the central objectives of the conspiracy were not achieved until the statute of limitations ran on the tax evasion charges. Judge Frank, while dissenting on the ground that the charge to the jury was inadequate in putting the case to the jury on this basis -- a view which we share, see infra -- agreed that, under a proper charge, the jury might infer that the conspiracy was still alive through 1951. See 233 F.2d at 592-596.
At the conclusion of the trial, the judge instructed the jury that Halperin's claim of his constitutional privilege not to be a witness against himself could be considered in determining what weight should be given to his testimony -- in other words, whether Halperin was a truthful and trustworthy witness. I agree with the Court that use of this claim of constitutional privilege to reflect upon Halperin's credibility was error, but I do not, like the Court, rest my conclusion on the special circumstances of this case. I can think of no special circumstances that would justify use of a constitutional privilege to discredit or convict a person who asserts it. The value of constitutional privileges is largely destroyed if persons can be penalized for relying on them. It seems peculiarly
Oral Argument - April 03, 1957
Oral Argument - April 04, 1957 (Part 2)
Oral Argument - April 04, 1957 (Part 1)