Opinion ID: 106391
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the publicity of which petitioner complains.

Text: In addition to challenges to the grand and petit juries, petitioner prior to the selection of the petit jury made five motions on the ground of bias and prejudice arising from the publicity, viz., one to quash the indictment, three for continuances ranging from one month to an indefinite period, and one for a change of venue to Snohomish or Whatcom County. Petitioner's counsel supported his factual contentions in regard to these various motions by his personal affidavits as well as by photostats of stories appearing in local newspapers and national magazines. We shall now summarize the highlights of the publicity set forth by the petitioner in his moving papers and exhibits. The Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field of the United States Senate began its investigation on February 26, 1957. In early March the Chairman of the Committee announced that the Committee had produced `rather conclusive' evidence of a tie-up between West Coast Teamsters and under-world bosses to monopolize vice in Portland, Ore. The announcement also stated that Teamsters' President Dave Beck and Brewster [also a Teamster leader] will be summoned for questioning on a charge that they schemed to control Oregon's law enforcement machinery from a local level on up to the governor's chair. On March 22 the Committee was quoted in the newspapers as stating $250,000 had been taken from Teamster funds . . . and used for Beck's personal benefit. Petitioner appeared before the Committee on March 26, and the newspapers reported: BECK TAKES 5TH AMENDMENT President of Teamsters `Very Definitely' Thinks Records Might Incriminate Him. Television cameras were permitted at the hearings. One Seattle TV station ran an 8 3/4-hour live broadcast of the session on March 27, and films of this session were shown by various TV stations in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The April 12 issue of the U. S. News & World Report ran a caption: Take a look around Seattle these days, and you find what a Senate inquiry can do to a top labor leader in his own home town. On April 26 the county prosecutor announced that a special grand jury would be impaneled in Seattle to investigate possible misuse of Teamsters Union funds by international president Dave Beck . . . . It was later announced that former Mayor Devin of Seattle was to be appointed Chief Special Prosecutor. On May 3 petitioner was indicted by a federal grand jury at Tacoma for income tax evasion. The announcement of this action was of course in front-page headlines. Five days later the petitioner was again called as a witness before the Committee in Washington. News stories on his appearance concentrated on his pleading of the Fifth Amendment 60 times during the hearings. Other stories emanating from the Committee hearings were featured intermittently, and on May 20, the day of the convening of the special grand jury, the Chairman of the Senate Committee announced that the Committee has not convicted Mr. Beck of any crime, although it is my belief that he has committed many criminal offenses. The publicity continued to some degree after the grand jury had been convened and during the three-week period in which the prosecutors were gathering up documentary evidence through the use of grand jury subpoenas. Among other stories that appeared was one of June 4 stating that at the Committee hearings Beck, Jr., who even refused to say whether he knew his father, took shelter behind the [fifth] amendment 130 times, following the example of Beck, Sr., who refused to answer 210 times in three appearances before the committee. The indictment in this case was returned by the special grand jury on July 12 and of course received banner headlines. Intermittent publicity continued, some from Washington, D. C., until August 28 when a federal grand jury indicted petitioner and others on additional income tax evasion counts. The co-conspirators named in this latter indictment were then called before the Committee in Washington, and these hearings, which were held on November 5, brought on additional publicity. On November 12 Dave Beck, Jr., went to trial on other larceny charges and was convicted on November 23, a Saturday. The state papers gave that event considerable coverage. The trial of petitioner in this case began on December 2 and continued until his conviction on December 14.