Opinion ID: 396303
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Incriminating Nature of the Desired Testimony and the Possibility of Prosecution

Text: 36 There is little doubt that the testimony sought from appellant is of an incriminating nature, and the central question, aside from whether appellant is protected by a valid grant of immunity, is whether the possibility of prosecution is fanciful at most. 37 The six questions that appellant refused to answer relate to potentially incriminating matter because they concern alleged exchanges by appellant of price information with competitors in the corrugated container industry, and they might reveal his participation from 1968-75, while he worked with Weyerhaeuser and CORCO, in an alleged ongoing price-fixing conspiracy that purportedly continued until 1978. The fact that appellant was given an oral promise of immunity, presumably authorized, and that comparable information from similar witnesses in this litigation was obtained under grants of formal immunity, strongly attests to the injurious nature of appellant's evidence. Indeed, the established policy of federal prosecutors precludes them from offering formal or informal immunity to a witness unless he possesses information which is self-incriminatory. 16 Three of the six questions, repeated from appellant's FBI interview, explicitly asked about exchanges of price information with competitors. 17 Appellant was also asked to identify the transcript of his FBI interview. 18 This question is potentially incriminating as well because an affirmative answer would constitute an admission under oath that appellant made the prior statements, which could lay the foundation for the introduction of the transcript in a subsequent trial or enable the use of the transcript to impeach appellant. Cf. United States v. Livingston, 661 F.2d 239 (D.C. Cir. 1981), at 242-244. Still another question asked appellant to identify who has a copy of the interview transcript. 19 This seemingly innocent question also harbors hidden dangers for the unwary witness. For instance, an answer could reveal the identity of persons with whom appellant has discussed the substance of his interview; this in turn might reveal a waiver of whatever effective immunity from prosecution that he may have received. See, e. g., United States v. Kuehn, 562 F.2d 427, 432 (7th Cir. 1977). Further, identification of persons who do not have a copy of the interview transcript by not naming them in an answer may lay the groundwork for a subsequent prosecutor to establish that his questions are not derivative of the interview transcript and therefore not covered by a prior grant of immunity. The sixth and final question asks: 38 Is your memory today regarding conversations pertaining to exchanges of prices or exchanges of information concerning materials and conditions of sales with competitors, as fresh as it was on October 11, 1977, when you gave the interview to the FBI agent on behalf of the grand jury? 39 Tr. 127-28. This question has a predicate of incrimination and appellant could not answer it without admitting that he had price exchanges. In addition, the question has a potential for opening a whole new view of testimony which was not obtained in the prior FBI interview if the respondent should admit new or additional incidents of price-fixing. In sum, it seems plain that answers by appellant to the six questions could well result in injurious disclosures or at least furnish a link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute. Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479, 486-87, 71 S.Ct. 814, 818-819, 95 L.Ed. 1118 (1951). Thus, the testimony in question is incriminating within the meaning of the fifth amendment. 40 Since all of the questions are potentially incriminating, we next need to determine whether appellant's fear of prosecution on the basis of admissions as to pre-1975 price communications is realistic or reasonable and not merely fanciful. In this regard we cannot agree with the district judge that the likelihood of prosecution is fanciful at most, and we must conclude that it was clearly erroneous for him to find that for all practical purposes the statute of limitations had run on possible prosecutions. 41 Appellees downplay the prospect of future criminal prosecution by referring to the obvious fact that the federal criminal trial is finished, and that there is not the least indication that any prosecutor in any state has any interest in reinvestigating such well-researched territory. 20 But that does not guarantee, especially in light of the conduct involved in this case, that a criminal action would not be started in some state or federal jurisdiction, if the statute of limitations did not bar it. See In re Master Key Litigation, 507 F.2d 292, 293 (9th Cir. 1974). The district judge's rather cursory inquiry during the contempt hearing into this possibility did not illuminate the record before us on this point. See Tr. 124-25. 21 It is, therefore, not appropriate to conclude that absent a legal bar to prosecution such as immunity or the statute of limitations, the possibility of prosecution is too remote to allow appellant to invoke the privilege to remain silent. Appellant was a middle level executive in two of the fourteen companies indicted in a federal criminal antitrust case arising from events occurring during his employment with the defendant companies. Appellant's sales positions with these companies put him in the vortex of the price decisions which were the subject matter of the antitrust suit. Twenty-six other individuals were indicted for their involvement in these events. Given these facts we cannot say that appellant's apprehension of prosecution is fanciful. The Fifth Circuit reached the same conclusion in another part of this same case when it vacated contempt orders against two other non-party witnesses who refused to answer appellees' questions concerning their knowledge of and participation in the alleged nationwide price-fixing conspiracy. Franey, 620 F.2d 1086, 1092 (5th Cir. 1980) (noting that a federal grand jury sitting in Ohio had begun its own investigation of the corrugated container industry). 42 Thus, appellant's fifth amendment privilege in this case should not be overridden on statute of limitations grounds unless it is clear that none apply. The district judge's written order stated: 43 Counsel for (appellant) did not present proof that any applicable statute of limitations had not run. The federal statute of limitations is four years which indicates that (appellant) would not be subject to prosecution for the period before December 31, 1975. 44 J.A. 2. 22 We do not believe this to be a sufficient basis for the order for several reasons. First, during the telephone conference call appellant's counsel requested but was denied an opportunity to brief the statute of limitations issue. The district court ruled without the benefit of a written submission on the issue. Second, it is readily apparent now that relevant statutes of limitations have not yet run out. The alleged criminal conspiracy which spawned this litigation involved the period between 1960 and 1978. The statute of limitations begins to run for an individual defendant involved in a continuing conspiracy from the conclusion of the conspiracy unless an individual can show that he withdrew from the conspiracy by an affirmative act designed to defeat the purpose of the conspiracy. E. g., United States v. James, 609 F.2d 36 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 905, 100 S.Ct. 1082, 63 L.Ed.2d 321 (1979); United States v. Fitzgerald, 579 F.2d 1014 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1002, 99 S.Ct. 611, 58 L.Ed.2d 677 (1978); Thomas v. Petro-Wash, Inc., 429 F.Supp. 808, 812-13 (M.D.N.C.1977). See also In re Multidistrict Vehicle Air Pollution, 591 F.2d 68, 70-71 (9th Cir. 1979); Fontana Aviation, Inc. v. Baldinelli, 418 F.Supp. 464, 469-70 (W.D.Mich.1976). Before the statute runs out the individual remains liable for his own criminal acts, and also for the acts of his co-conspirators, including those acts occurring after the individual's own last overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. Id. If appellant's answers to questions about his pre-1975 action linked him to a conspiracy ending in 1978, it must be presumed that the statute began to run in 1978 since there is no basis that we are aware of for concluding that appellant withdrew from the alleged conspiracy. The federal statute of limitations referred to by the district judge is four years and would not run out until 1982. 15 U.S.C. § 15b. More significantly, however, in view of the federal promise of immunity, discussed below, no relevant state statute of limitations would apparently run out before 1983. 23 In sum, in 1981 appellant did have reasonable cause to fear prosecution for his answers.