Opinion ID: 103352
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Use of the Grand Jury Transcript.

Text: The Circuit Court of Appeals held that the trial court committed prejudicial error in refusing to permit defense counsel to inspect the transcript of grand jury testimony used to refresh the recollection of certain witnesses called by the government. Respondents here urge that the use made of the grand jury transcript was error because (1) they were denied the right to inspect it, (2) it had not been properly authenticated, (3) the reading of the grand jury testimony must have led the jury to conclude that it was affirmative testimony, and (4) such testimony was not given contemporaneously with the occurrences to which it was related. And in all respects, respondents contend that such use of the grand jury testimony was highly prejudicial. There were about 90 instances when the government used that testimony. In practically all those cases, the witnesses were employees or representatives of respondents or former defendants, or were closely associated with them. That most of them were hostile witnesses  evasive and reluctant to testify  clearly appears from a reading of their entire testimony. Each of those witnesses had testified before the grand jury which returned the indictment in the case. At times counsel for the government would state to the court that he was surprised at the witness' answer to a question and that it contradicted testimony before the grand jury. More frequently counsel would ask the witness if his memory could be refreshed by his grand jury testimony. During the first part of the trial government counsel apparently read some grand jury testimony to two witnesses from his notes. After objection had been made, the court instructed counsel to use the transcript. Soon thereafter, and early in the trial, the court adopted the practice of inspecting the transcript and itself seeking to refresh the witness' recollection by reading from his prior testimony. At no time was the transcript shown to the witness. At all times respondents appropriately objected to the practice. Throughout the trial the stated single reason for the use of such prior testimony was the refreshment of the witness' recollection. Counsel for the defense were ever alert to denounce the practice, especially when it appeared that government counsel might seek to impeach the witness. In such cases the court normally would sustain the objection or admonish government counsel; or the question and answer would be stricken. In many instances where such testimony was used, the incident ended by the witness merely saying that his recollection had not been refreshed. In case it had been, he would state what his present recollection was. Only in about one-sixth of the instances was any inconsistency in testimony developed. In the balance, recollection was either not refreshed or the testimony which had been given was wholly or substantially consistent with the previous grand jury testimony. During the trial the court told the jury: I have used some of the testimony and read some of it for the purpose only of refreshing the witnesses' memories, and many times I have indicated that there was no conflict or nothing inconsistent between the testimony of the witness and the transcript of testimony. The only reason we use this transcript of testimony of each witness before the Grand Jury is to, if we can, refresh their memories so as to enable them to recall correctly what the fact is. And the court made a similar statement in its charge to the jury. As in case of leading questions, St. Clair v. United States, 154 U.S. 134, 150, such use of grand jury testimony for the purpose of refreshing the recollection of a witness rests in the sound discretion of the trial judge. See Di Carlo v. United States, 6 F.2d 364, 367-368; Bosselman v. United States, 239 F. 82, 85; Felder v. United States, 9 F.2d 872. He sees the witness, can appraise his hostility, recalcitrance, and evasiveness or his need for some refreshing material, and can determine whether or not under all the circumstances the use of grand jury minutes is necessary or appropriate for refreshing his recollection. As once stated by Judge Hough, The bald fact that the memory refreshing words are found in the records of a grand jury is not a valid objection. Felder v. United States, supra, p. 874. Normally, of course, the material so used must be shown to opposing counsel upon demand, if it is handed to the witness. Morris v. United States, 149 F. 123, 126; Lennon v. United States, 20 F.2d 490, 493-494; Wigmore, Evidence (2d ed.), § 762. And the reasons are that only in that way can opposing counsel avoid the risks of imposition on and improper communication with the witness, and detect circumstances not appearing on the surface and expose all that detracts from the weight of testimony. See 2 Wigmore, supra, p. 42. The first of these reasons has no relevancy here. And as to the second, no iron-clad rule requires that opposing counsel be shown the grand jury transcript where it is not shown the witness and where some appropriate procedure is adopted to prevent its improper use. That again is a matter which rests in the sound discretion of the court. Grand jury testimony is ordinarily confidential. See Wigmore, supra, § 2362. But after the grand jury's functions are ended, disclosure is wholly proper where the ends of justice require it. See Metzler v. United States, 64 F.2d 203, 206. Since there is no inexorable rule which under all circumstances entitles the witness and his counsel to see the prior statement made under oath and since in this case the court itself examined and thus directly controlled the use of the grand jury testimony, we cannot say that the refusal to make it available to counsel for the defense is per se reversible error. To hold that it was error in the instances here under review would be to find abuse of discretion, where in fact we conclude from the entire record on this phase of the case that the judge supervised the procedure with commendable fairness. In sum, the selective use of this testimony and the precautions taken by the trial judge make it impossible for us to say that he transcended the limits of sound discretion in permitting it to be used by the government without making it available to the defense. If the record showed that the refreshing material was deliberately used for purposes not material to the issues but to arouse the passions of the jurors, so that an objective appraisal of the evidence was unlikely, there would be reversible error. Likewise there would be error where under the pretext of refreshing a witness' recollection, the prior testimony was introduced as evidence. Rosenthal v. United States, 248 F. 684, 686. But here the grand jury testimony was used simply to refresh the recollection on material facts, New York & Colorado Mining Syndicate & Co. v. Fraser, 130 U.S. 611, not as independent affirmative evidence. Bates v. Preble, 151 U.S. 149. Furthermore, it was not used for impeachment purposes; and the content of this refreshing material related solely to conversations and events relevant to the formation and execution of the buying programs. In addition, it clearly appears that the use of this material was not prejudicial. So far as the subject matter of the inquiry is concerned, that prior testimony was either cumulative or dealt only with the minutiae of the conspiracy. The record minus that testimony clearly establishes all the facts necessary for proof of the illegal conspiracy. No portion of it was dependent on the minor facts concerning which the memory of these witnesses was refreshed. [61] Hence, the situation is vastly different from those cases where essential ingredients of the crime were dependent on testimony elicited in that manner or where the evidence of guilt hung in delicate balance if that testimony was deleted. See Little v. United States, 93 F.2d 401; Putnam v. United States, 162 U.S. 687. Hence assuming, arguendo, that there was error in the use of the prior testimony, to order a new trial would be to violate the standards of § 269 of the Judicial Code (28 U.S.C. § 391), since the substantial rights of respondents were not affected. There are no vested individual rights in the ordinary rules of evidence; their observance should not be reduced to an idle ceremony. Putnam v. United States, supra , held it was prejudicial error to use grand jury minutes to refresh the memory of a witness unless that testimony was contemporaneous with the occurrences as to which the witness was testifying. There the testimony before the grand jury was more than four months after the occurrence. This Court held that because of that lapse of time the testimony was not contemporaneous. Whatever may be said of the Putnam case on the merits (see Wigmore, supra, § 761) it does not establish an inflexible four-months' period of limitation. There the event was a single isolated conversation, most damaging to the defendant. Here there was a continuing conspiracy extending at least up to the period when the witnesses were testifying before the grand jury. Much of the testimony related to events a year or more old. But in the main those matters were woven into the conspiracy, related to events in which the witness actively participated, concerned the regular business matters with which he was familiar, pertained to his regular employment, or constituted admissions against interest. On these facts we do not think there was an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial judge in permitting the testimony to be used. Measured by the test of whether or not the prior statement made under oath was reasonably calculated to revive the witness' present recollection within the rule of the Putnam case, there certainly cannot be said to have been error as a matter of law. Respondents say that the manner employed in refreshing the recollection of the witnesses was bound to inculcate in the minds of the jurors the feeling that the witnesses were testifying falsely or were concealing the truth. But here again, we find no reversible error. The trial judge, as we have said, was alert to stop impeachment. And in view of the obvious hostility and evasiveness of most of those witnesses, we cannot say that the judge transcended the bounds of discretion in permitting their memories to be refreshed in this manner. As is true of most that takes place in a trial, the right result is a matter of degree, and depends upon the sense of measure of the judge. See United States v. Freundlich, 95 F.2d 376, 379.