Court Opinion

ID: 9423155
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:06:14.168249+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:42.625792
License: Public Domain

Mr. Chief Justice Warren,
with whom Mr. Justice Douglas and Mr. Justice Brennan join, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the limited holding of the Court that the use of the Congressman’s speech during this particular trial — with an examination into its authorship, motiva*187tion and content — was violative of the Speech or Debate Clause. I also join the Court in its remand of the conspiracy count for a new trial, this time purged of offensive matter. The Court’s refusal to decide the validity of the conviction under the seven substantive counts, hovrever, prompts me to dissent. In my view, the conflict of interest counts are properly before us, raise important questions and should be resolved now since the respondent will probably raise these issues on his forthcoming reprosecution.
I.
The Court explains its refusal to reach the substantive counts by referring to a single statement made by the Government’s counsel at the outset of oral argument, p. 186, n. 16, ante. In the same colloquy, the Government remarked that it did not consider the issues raised by the substantive counts to be of general importance, and felt that the question of the effect of the tainted evidence on these counts would unavoidably require an examination of the entire 1,300-page record. Prior to oral argument, the Government had argued these issues exhaustively in the Court of Appeals, and had mentioned them in its petition for certiorari in compliance with Supreme Court Rule 40 (1) (d)(1) and (2), and in its reply brief on the merits. Both in its reply brief and later in oral argument, in answer to inquiries from the Bench, it contended that the evidence, arguments and instructions on the conspiracy count were distinct from the substantive counts. At best, then, the Government’s position is ambiguous, if not puzzling.1 Beyond that, *188the respondent himself specifically urged this Court to consider the issues in his brief on the merits, pp. 100-101 and n. 86, devoted 33 pages of argument to this phase of the case and addressed himself to the questions on oral argument. Under these unique circumstances, I think it is our duty carefully to scrutinize all the facts and issues involved in the prosecution.
II.
After reading the record, it is my conclusion that the Court of Appeals erred in determining that the evidence concerning the speech infected the jury’s judgment on the substantive counts. The evidence amply supports the prosecution’s theory and the jury’s verdict on these counts — that the respondent received over $20,000 for attempting to have the Justice Department dismiss an indictment against his co-conspirators, without disclosing his role in the enterprise. This is the classic example of a violation of § 281 by a Member of the Congress.2 See May v. United States, 175 F. 2d 994, 1006 (C. A. D. C. Cir.); United States v. Booth, 148 F. 112, 117 (Cir. Ct. D. *189Ore.). The arguments of government counsel and the court’s instructions separating the conspiracy from the substantive counts seem unimpeachable. The speech was a minor part of the prosecution. There was nothing in it to inflame the jury and the respondent pointed with pride to it as evidence of his vigilance in protecting the financial institutions of his State. The record further reveals that the trial participants were well aware that a finding of criminality on one count did not authorize similar conclusions as to other counts, and I believe that this salutary principle was conscientiously followed. Therefore, I would affirm the convictions on the substantive counts.

 1 confess to some surprise that the Government almost abandoned these issues when in this Court, even though the major question in the case is the application of the Speech or Debate Clause. In the first place, this Court has not had occasion to deal with the conflict of interest statutes as applied to a Member of Congress *188since 1906, Burton v. United States, 202 U. S. 344, and they remain viable although lately revised, see Manning, Federal Conflict of Interest Law 14 — 73 (1964). Moreover, the Government itself has argued strenuously and successfully in many cases that an erroneous conviction on one count does not vitiate a conviction on other counts, especially where concurrent sentences are involved, see, e. g., United States v. Romano, 382 U. S. 136; United States v. Gainey, 380 U. S. 63, 65; Sinclair v. United States, 279 U. S. 263, 299; Barnard v. United States, 342 F. 2d 309 (C. A. 9th Cir.), certiorari denied, 382 U. S. 948. There are, in addition, numerous cases in which the issue was raised in this Court and the petitioner-defendant was denied certiorari.

 The sentence given was lenient — six months on each count, but all to run concurrently. The conspiracy statute, 18 U. S. C. § 371, authorizes a five-year prison term and a $10,000 fine, and the conflict of interest statute in effect at the trial permitted a two-year sentence and a $10,000 fine for each violation, 18 U. S. C. § 281.