Court Opinion

ID: 9758723
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:41:34.263496+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:54.347899
License: Public Domain

CLAGETT, Associate Judge
(dissenting).
I believe .a new trial should be ordered" in this case because of the refusal of the trial court to authorize .a subpoena duces tecum directed to the chief of police to bring to court the file of a policeman upon whose testimony the government relied chiefly for the conviction of appellant. Admittedly, under the rules of criminal procedure now applicable to United States district courts and under the federal practice -generally, a party receives from the court a subpoena duces tecum signed and sealed 'but otherwise blank, and it is filled out by the party or his attorney. Any dispute over the subpoena or over the scope of the material sought is then resolved on motion. The subpoena itself, however, is issued without question. The Municipal Court, however, retains the old practice of having the trial judge authorize such a subpoena in a criminal case before it is issued, although in civil cases it now follows the federal practice. The majority of the court justifies the refusal to issue the subpoena duces tecum in the present case on the ground that the evidence sought to be adduced was irrelevant. I can not agree to passing on the admissibility of evidence before it is tendered. Here it was assumed that the desired file would show whether the policeman involved had been transferred because of perjury and that such evidence was not admissible. This might or might not have been the issue. When this witness was on the stand, he was asked also whether his transfer occurred before or after the trial of another case. The witness insisted that he had been transferred before the trial of the other case. Probably the file would have shown the facts on this point without reference to anything else, and in this regard, at least, would, in my opinion, have been admissible. In any event, I believe the practice of passing in advance on evidence sought by a subpoena is bad, is antiquated, and should no longer be recognized.