Court Opinion

ID: 9466812
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:28:37.888939+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:35.960101
License: Public Domain

LUMBARD, Circuit Judge
(concurring in part; dissendng in part):
I concur in affirming the conviction. I dissent, however, from the observations in Judge Newman’s opinion which imply that under certain circumstances the district court would be under the duty of inquiring into whether or not the prosecution should grant use immunity to a prospective defense witness. In my view it is not the proper business of the trial judge to inquire into the propriety of the prosecution’s refusal to grant use immunity to a prospective witness.
In our adversary system the judge best performs his function by remaining completely impartial and objective and keeping entirely apart from the decisions which govern the conduct of the Government’s case and the presentation of the defense. As Judge Newman’s careful analysis shows, the continuing investigation and the unexpected development of evidence, and the willingness of coconspirators to give evidence, all bear upon the difficult and delicate decisions which prosecutors must make in recommending indictments and in presenting evidence at trial. Even if it were possible for the judge to be sufficiently informed of all the pertinent facts and considerations — which he cannot be — it is highly undesirable that the judge should be asked to bear a burden that is fraught with the danger that his impartiality and objectivity may seem to be, or may actually be, impaired. The judicial function exercised by the judge should not be confused with the executive function to determine how to prosecute defendants and present evidence against them. This important distinction between government functions, which has the firmest possible roots in the Constitution itself, is expressly recognized in the immunity statute. This statute places the decision to grant in the hand of the Department of Justice and they leave to the court only the ministerial function of granting the order and thus directing that the statute is observed.
I see nothing in theory, or in practice, to be gained by any procedure whereby the prosecutor may be called upon to state that he has reason to believe that the intended witness is a possible defendant. Theoretically, the response of the prosecutor is simply that his refusal to agree to use immunity is justified by the mere claim of the witness. The witness presumably knows more about his own involvement in the allegedly illegal activities of the defendant. Consequently, the government cannot be expected to forego the unrestricted use of the witness’ testimony, and cannot be required to undergo the difficulty of managing separate staffs to ensure compliance with a restriction that no use may be made of what the witness might say.
It is not difficult to see what will happen if we suggest that trial judges should examine claims of defendants that use immunity should be granted to prospective witnesses who otherwise would refuse to testify under the Fifth Amendment. Let us suppose the prosecutor has indicted five defendants. Each one could claim that one or more of his co-defendants would, if granted use immunity, give testimony favorable to his defense. There would then be five separate trials, as it would be difficult for the judge to find that the defendant’s claim is groundless. To prosecute five separate trials the prosecutor’s office would have to create five separate and completely different staffs of attorneys to insulate the prosecutor from any later claim that some use had in fact been made of testimony given by the defendant when he was a witness for a co-defendant at an earlier trial.
In many cases the witness will assert that his lawyer really cannot know whether the witness (who may think himself to be an innocent bystander) might, short of immunity, be providing a missing link in the chain of circumstantial evidence. The prosecution can then ask that the proposed wit*780ness be examined by counsel, in camera and under oath, to determine whether there is in fact a good faith assertion that the witness’ testimony may tend to incriminate him. The knee-jerk use of the Fifth Amendment by witnesses is usually a device to avoid the unpleasant and embarrassing experience of testifying against a friend or someone whose retaliation is feared. Although everyone knows this, the claim of the Fifth Amendment privilege is hardly ever questioned even when witnesses use it to avoid stating their address or occupation or whether they know a person.
Thus, if we are to open the door to collateral proceedings to determine the propriety of the prosecution’s refusal to give use immunity to intended witnesses, the district courts should also be prepared to spend some time inquiring into the good faith of Fifth Amendment claims which are made as a ploy to get use immunity, or, if use immunity is denied, to use the denial as a ground for appeal after conviction. The prosecutor’s request for such a hearing to test the good faith of the claim would surely be entitled to as much consideration as would be the demand for use immunity because experience teaches that it is far more likely than not that there is no basis for the claim.
In sum, I do not see how the prosecutor’s refusal to grant use immunity to a witness, who suggests by his claim of immunity that he might well be a suitable target for investigation, can ever be considered improper interference with the production of evidence.
Every unnecessary disclosure of information by the prosecution increases the difficulties of administering criminal justice: whether or not the prosecutor has any evidence about the potential witness is information which may be of value to the witness. A prosecutor may have an indication not rising to the level of admissible evidence or even to the point where it could be considered “persuasive” (albeit inadmissible) by a trial judge. If the judge rejects the ex parte submission of the prosecutor, then the potential witness may be relatively certain that his activities are undiscovered. Clearly such a procedure may have great value to the wrongdoer.
Indeed, by suggesting that there may be cases where the court should inquire of the prosecution about use immunity, we invite wrongdoers to come forward as potential witnesses to ascertain if they have been discovered. It is apparent that the district courts may expect an increasing number of applications for use immunity inquiries.
Moreover, the requirement that some record be made of the prosecutor’s response presents obvious dangers. Such material which may be of great value to the wrongdoer-potential witness will necessarily be disclosed to others beyond those who need to know — a typist, a clerk, a reporter or other aide.
For these reasons, I conclude that the potential harm to the administration of criminal justice which is involved in any inquiry into the grant of use immunity to a witness so far outweighs any possible need for such a procedure to ensure fair trials, that I would prohibit the district court from entertaining such an application or conducting such an inquiry.