HALE v. HENKEL
No. 340
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Decided March 12, 1906
201 U. S. 43
Argued January 4, 5, 1906
Appeal dismissed.
HALE v. HENKEL.
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.
No. 340. Argued January 4, 5, 1906.- Decided March 12, 1906.
Under the practice in this country the examination of witnesses by a Federal grand jury need not be preceded by a presentment or formal indictment, but the grand jury may proceed, either upon their own knowledge or upon examination of witnesses, to inquire whether a crime cognizable by the court has been committed, and if so they may indict upon such evidence. In summoning witnesses it is sufficient to apprise them of the names of the parties with respect to whom they will be called to testify without indicating the nature of the charge against them, or laying a basis by a formal indictment.
The examination of a witness before a grand jury is a “proceeding” within the meaning of the proviso to the general appropriation act of 1903, that no person shall be prosecuted on account of anything which he may testify in any proceeding under the Anti-trust Law. The word should receive as wide a construction as is necessary to protect the witness in his disclosures.
The interdiction of the
A witness cannot refuse to testify before a Federal grand jury in face of a Federal statute granting immunity from prosecution as to matters sworn to, because the immunity does not extend to prosecutions in a state court. In granting immunity the only danger to be guarded against is one within the same jurisdiction and under the same sovereignty.
The benefits of the
A witness who cannot avail himself of the
The search and seizure clause of the
While an individual may lawfully refuse to answer incriminating questions unless protected by an immunity statute, a corporation is a creature of the State, and there is a reserved right in the legislature to investigate its contracts and find out whether it has exceeded its powers.
There is a clear distinction between an individual and a corporation, and the latter, being a creature of the State, has not the constitutional right to refuse to submit its books and papers for an examination at the suit of the State; and an officer of a corporation which is charged with criminal violation of a statute cannot plead the criminality of the corporation as a refusal to produce its books.
Franchises of a corporation chartered by a State are, so far as they involve questions of interstate commerce, exercised in subordination to the power of Congress to regulate such commerce; and while Congress may not have general visitatorial power over state corporations, its powers in vindication of its own laws are the same as if the corporation had been created by an act of Congress.
A corporation is but an association of individuals with a distinct name and legal entity, and in organizing itself as a collective body it waives no appropriate constitutional immunities, and although it cannot refuse to produce its books and papers it is entitled to immunity under the
Although the subpœna duces tecum may be too broad in its requisition, where the witness has refused to answer any question, or to produce any books or papers, this objection would not go to the validity of the order committing him for contempt.
THIS was an appeal from a final order of the Circuit Court made June 18, 1905, dismissing a writ of habeas corpus and remanding the petitioner Hale to the custody of the marshal.
The proceeding originated in a subpœna duces tecum, issued April 28, 1905, commanding Hale to appear before the grand jury at a time and place named, to “testify and give evidence
- All understandings, agreements, arrangements, or contracts, whether evidenced by correspondence, memoranda, formal agreements, or other writings, between MacAndrews & Forbes Company and six other firms and corporations named, from the date of the organization of the said MacAndrews & Forbes Company.
- All correspondence by letter or telegram between MacAndrews & Forbes Company and six other firms and corporations.
- All reports made or accounts rendered by these six companies or corporations to the principal company.
- Any agreements or contracts or arrangements, however evidenced, between MacAndrews & Forbes Company and the Amsterdam Supply Company or the American Tobacco Company or the Continental Company or the Consolidated Tobacco Company.
- All letters received by the MacAndrews & Forbes Company since the date of its organization from thirteen other companies named, located in different parts of the United States and also copies of all correspondence with such companies.
Petitioner appeared before the grand jury in obedience to the subpœna, and before being sworn asked to be advised of the nature of the investigation in which he had been summoned; whether under any statute of the United States, and the specific charge, if any had been made, in order that he might learn whether or not the grand jury had any lawful right to make the inquiry, and also that he be furnished with a copy of the complaint, information or proposed indictment upon which they were acting; that he had been informed that there was no action pending in the Circuit Court as stated in the subpœna, and that the grand jury was investigating no specific charge against
After stating his name, residence and the fact that he was secretary and treasurer of the MacAndrews & Forbes Company, he declined to answer all other questions in regard to the business of the company, its officers, the location of its office, or its agreement or arrangements with other companies. He was thereupon advised by the Assistant District Attorney that this was a proceeding under the Sherman Act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraint and monopolies; that under the act of 1903, amendatory thereof, no person could be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture on account of any matter or thing concerning which he might testify or produce documentary evidence in any prosecution under said act, and that he thereby offered and assured appellant immunity from punishment. The witness still persisted in his refusal to answer all questions. He also declined to produce the papers and documents called for in the subpœna:
First. Because it would have been a physical impossibility to have gotten them together within the time allowed.
Second. Because he was advised by counsel that he was under no legal obligations to produce anything called for by the subpœna.
Third. Because they might tend to incriminate him.
Whereupon the grand jury reported the matter to the court, and made a presentment that Hale was in contempt, and that the proper proceedings should be taken. Thereupon all the parties appeared before the Circuit judge, who directed the witness to answer the questions and produce the papers. Appellant still persisting in his refusal, the Circuit judge held him to be in contempt, and committed him to the custody of the marshal until he should answer the questions and produce the papers. A writ of habeas corpus was thereupon sued out, and a hearing had before another judge of the same court, who discharged the writ and remanded the petitioner.
There were no facts authorizing the Circuit Court to entertain any charge against appellant. Unless the grand jury in prosecuting the investigation acted within its jurisdiction, the court had no authority to punish the witness for his supposed contumacy in refusing to answer questions. People v. Cassels, 5 Hill, 164; Ex parte Fisk, 113 U. S. 713; Scott v. McNeal, 154 U. S. 34; Cooley, Const. Lim. 7th ed. p. 575; United States v. Terry, 39 Fed. Rep. 355.
No judicial matter was pending in the Circuit Court when appellant was required to attend before the grand jury, or when the orders of May 5 and May 8 were made, in or upon which he could lawfully be required to testify or produce evidence.
Notwithstanding the subpœna said “in a certain action,” no action was pending; there can be no action, prosecution or criminal proceeding, until after someone has been formally accused of acts constituting a criminal offense by indictment or by information. Post v. United States, 161 U. S. 583, 587.
Nor was there any particular charge against the corporations named in the subpœna duces tecum, or under investigation. The grand jury was merely engaged in an effort to find out whether they had or had not transgressed the Sherman Act.
An ex parte investigation, based upon mere suspicion, without any complaint or charge, and that may be without result, is not a “case” or “controversy” within the meaning of the Constitution. Pacific Railway Commission v. Stanford, 32 Fed. Rep. 241; Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U. S. 168; Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U. S. 447.
The grand jury was not in the exercise of its proper and legitimate authority in prosecuting the alleged investigation; consequently its requirement, and the orders of the court, based upon it and the witness‘s refusal, were coram non judice and void.
The former was a written accusation of one or more persons of a crime or misdemeanor, preferred to, and presented upon oath by the grand jury. Blackstone, Bk. IV, с. 23.
The grand jury was continued as a part of our Federal institutions by the
No Federal statute authorizes a grand jury to inquire into matters called to their attention by the court or prosecuting attorney, where there is no specific charge against one or more individuals. Such a statute would be unconstitutional, and the idea that a grand jury has practically unlimited inquisitorial power rests, upon various loose and ill-considered utterances in reported cases. 17 Am. & Eng. Ency. 2d ed. 1279.
No case in this country holds that there can be a legitimate inquiry without a previous charge; and except in Tennessee, where there is legislative authority in respect to certain offenses, the idea of general inquisitorial power is repudiated. Re Lester, 77 Georgia, 143; Lewis v. Commissioners, 74 N. Car. 194; Ward v. State, 2 Missouri, 120. See also Frisbie v. United States, 157 U. S. 160; People v. Kelly, 24 N. Y. 74; O‘Hair v. People, 32 Ill. App. 277; Webster‘s Case, 5 Greenleaf, 432; Post v. United States, 161 U. S. 585; Beavers v. Henkel, 194. U. S. 73, 84.
Although a grand jury may send for witnesses before indictment actually framed, some specific charge must be pending before them directed against a particular person or persons. Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U. S. 547; United States v. Kilpatrick, 16 Fed. Rep. 765; Lloyd v. Carpenter, 3 Pa. L. J. 188.
The greatest evil incident to the Star Chamber was its inquisitorial procedure. Upon suggestion or suspicion citizens were subpœnaed and subjected to examination under the ex officio oath. See preamble of act for the abolition of that court (July 5, 1641; 16 Charles I, c. 10; 5 S. R., 110) reciting the violation of the statute of 25 Edw. III.
To exercise judicial power there must be parties to the proceeding, a matter in controversy, an assertion and a denial; in short, a distinct issue to be determined. Cooley, Const. Lim. 132; Matter of Pacific Railway Commission v. Stanford, 32 Fed. Rep. 241; Interstate Com. Com. v. Brimson, 154 U. S. 447.
The theory of our criminal proceeding, like that of Great Britain, is accusatory and not inquisitorial. United States v. James, 60 Fed. Rep. 257. See opinion of Chief Justice Marshall in United States v. Hill, 1 Brock. C. C. 159.
Section 1 of the act of February 25, 1903, does not give the petitioner immunity from prosecution, on account of the transactions concerning which he was directed to testify and produce evidence before the grand jury, the investigation before that body not being a “proceeding, suit or prosecution” under either of the acts referred to in the act of February 25, 1903; consequently the petitioner was within the legitimate exercise of his right under the
The legislative guaranty must have a broad construction in favor of the right which it is intended to secure. Counselman v. Hitchcock, supra.
See also as to similar language in the act of February 11, 1893, Brown v. Walker, 161 U. S. 591; but the immunity is worthless here unless the language subsequently used, “proceeding, suit or prosecution,” embraces a grand jury investigation. If it does not, the witness is deprived of his constitu-
A witness hereafter pleading the immunity afforded by this act as a bar to criminal prosecution will be held to strict proof, especially if he seeks to plead this Federal statute as a bar to a state prosecution. See Jack v. Kansas, 199 U. S. 372.
An inquiry before a grand jury is not a “suit” nor a “prosecution.” Post v. United States, supra; Paul v. Virginia, 148 U. S. 107; State v. Wolcott, 21 Connecticut, 279;
The act of February 25, 1903, is unconstitutional in that it undertakes to deprive the various States of their right and power to prosecute persons concerned in transactions, which violate their own laws, thus infringing upon the provision of the
The order of May 5 requiring appellant to produce the papers called for in the subpœna duces tecum was void under the
The writ must also particularly describe the papers desired. Ex parte Brown, supra; Sandford v. Nichols, 13 Massachusetts, 286.
A corporation is entitled to the same immunities as an individual. It cannot be compelled to incriminate itself. Wigmore on Evidence, § 2259; Logan v. Penna. R. R. Co., 132 Pa. St. 403; Santa Clara County v. Railroad Company, 118 U. S. 394; King of Sicilies v. Willcox, 7 St. Tr. (N. S.) 1049.
By the express provisions of the Sherman Act corporations
The rule that the protection of the
In this view the witness is not seeking to invoke the privilege of another, but the corporation itself invokes its own privilege in the only manner and by the only means it can employ for that purpose.
If, under these circumstances, it could be said that the corporation was a witness, and, therefore, entitled to the immunity afforded by the statute, this might, perhaps, meet our present contention. But the position of the Government is that the corporation is not protected by the statute. Its avowed purpose is to use the papers as the basis of an indictment against the corporation. See Davies v. Lincoln National Bank, 4 N. Y. Suppl. 373; Rex v. Purnell, Wilson, 239; In re Morse, 101 N. W. Rep. 588.
Mr. Henry W. Taft, Special Assistant to The Attorney General, with whom The Attorney General and Mr. Felix H. Levy, Special Assistant to The Attorney General, were on the brief, for the United States in this case and in No. 341:
The procedure of a grand jury in this country at the time of the enactment of the
The power of a grand jury extends to the broadest kind of an inquisitorial proceeding. Counsel for appellant have mistaken a radical change of mere procedure for an attempted enlargement of power. Or if it is a question of power, long before 1791 the American idea prevailed that the State and not the individual is the agency which should start a criminal prosecution; that this was vitally different from the English idea and necessarily involved radical changes in the grand jury system and the extension of its powers; and that it was with reference to such a system and such powers that the
During the first hundred years of our independence precedents are not numerous and authority for grand jury procedure rests not so much upon adjudications of the courts, as upon practice sanctioned by long usage and general recognition.
As to power of grand jury to find indictments on its own investigations, see lectures delivered by Judge Wilson in 1791 and 1792, Works James Wilson, ed. 1896, p. 213, and charge of Judge Addison, 1791, Common Pleas Court, Fifth Circuit, Addison‘s Pa. Rep. Appx. 38; but see Lloyd v. Carpenter, 1845, 5 Penn. L. Jour. 55 and State v. Smith, 1838, Meigs, 99.
United States v. Mundel (1795), 8 Virginia (6 Call.), 245, does not support appellant‘s contention. Its tendency is the other way. See also Ward v. State (1829), 2 Missouri, 120; State v. Freeman (1842), 13 N. H. 488,
The legality of the grand jury, without the agency of the district attorney, calling witnesses, whom they interrogated as to their knowledge concerning a Cuban expedition, was sustained, and the broad inquisitorial powers of grand juries was recognized. See report in note to § 337, Wharton‘s Crim. Pl. & Pr. 8th ed., and see also the charge delivered by Justice Field to a grand jury in California. 30 Fed. Cas. 994; 2 Sawyer, 667.
The limitations placed by Mr. Justice Field upon the inquisitorial powers of the grand jury do not relate to matters brought to their attention either by the court or by the district attorney, and that they permit a general investigation of a crime upon the “personal knowledge” of a juror, where such knowledge goes no further than to include “facts which tend to show” that a crime has been committed, which, of course, implies the power to call witnesses other than the grand juror having such knowledge. See also United States v. Kimball, 117 Fed. Rep. 156; Frisbie v. United States, 157 U. S. 160; United States v. Reed, 27 Fed. Cas. 737; United States v. Terry, 39 Fed. Rep. 355; United States v. McAvoy, 18 How. Pr. 380.
In the state courts see State v. Terry, 30 Missouri, 368; Ex parte Brown, 72 Missouri, 83; Commonwealth v. Smyth, 11 Cush. 473; State v. Wolcott, 21 Connecticut, 272; State v. Magrath, 44 N. J. L. 227; Blaney v. State, 74 Maryland, 153; People v. Northey, 77 California, 618; McCullough v. Commonwealth, 67 Pa. St. 30; Rowland v. Commonwealth, 82 Pa. St. 405; Thompson and Merriam on Juries, §§ 612, 615; Wharton‘s Crim. Pl. & Pr. 8th ed. § 338. O‘Hair v. People, 32 Ill. App. 277; State
A specific charge against a particular person is not necessary to give the grand jury jurisdiction. The English practice of private prosecutors has never prevailed. The grand jury acts on information of the district attorney or from its own knowledge or information otherwise obtained. Thompson and Merriam on Juries, § 609; 1 Bishop‘s Crim. Pr. § 278; charge of Mr. Justice Field, 30 Fed. Cas. 994; The King v. John Lukens, 1 Dallas, 7.
In its beginnings the grand jury seems to have been devised as a convenient method to assist itinerant justices in England in detecting crime and punishing it. They seem clearly to have been expected to investigate, and originally they indicted frequently, on mere rumor. See Pollock & Maitland‘s History of the English Law, vol. 2, pp. 622, 639, for description of the grand jury before the time of Edward I, founded on Bracton and Britton; Bracton, “De Corona,” Twiss’ ed. vol. 2, c. 22, fol. 143, p. 451; Reeves’ History English Law, vol. 1, p. 457; Stephens’ History Crim. Law. vol. 1, p. 253; Stubbs’ Constitutional History of England, vol. 1, p. 661 et seq.; Earl of Macclesfield v. Starkey (1684), 10 Howell‘s State Trials, 1330.
A specific charge involves definiteness. Date and circumstances and the technical accuracy characteristic of an indictment are not necessary to the exercise of jurisdiction by the grand jury.
A witness could object to answering a question because the proceeding was not properly inaugurated, demand a ruling by the court as to whether under the charge presented the question was admissible; and thus an investigation begun before the grand jury would soon assume the aspect of a trial in court, subverting the whole purpose of the grand jury system and seriously affecting the administration of justice.
If appellant‘s claim be conceded that a charge be necessary, it must follow that he can object to the admissibility of evidence
The court will assume that the district attorney and the grand jury proceeded in accordance with their sworn duties and in accordance with law. United States v. Terry, 39 Fed. Rep. 355; United States v. Hunter, 15 Fed. Rep. 712; United States v. Reed, 2 Blatchf. 435.
A witness before a grand jury has no right to raise objections as to the constitution of that body, unless his constitutional rights are clearly in danger. Ex parte Haymond, 91 California, 545.
No inconvenient or unjust results can attend the adoption of the rule the Government contends for, and sound public policy demands that it be held that the action was properly set in motion in this case.
It was contended below that to concede inquisitorial powers to a grand jury without in every case requiring a specific charge against a particular person would open up under the guise of the administration of justice possibilities of wrong and oppression “beyond conception.”
In the many jurisdictions where broader inquisitorial powers exist and have been exercised by grand juries, they have not been used as an engine of oppression. The system is surrounded with such safeguards that the danger of abuses is very remote.
The scope of the powers of a grand jury is limited by the jurisdiction of the court of which it is an appendage. United States v. Hill, 1 Brock. 156. It is also subject to the direction of the court and cannot effectually exercise some of its most
Whether a cause or action under the title mentioned in the subpœna was pending is unimportant. The proceeding might have proceeded without a title. Titles of proceedings before a grand jury are invariably fictitious. United States v. Reed, 27 Fed. Cas. 737; Appeal of Hartranft, 85 Pa. St. 433.
The
Unreasonableness under the
It was not for the witness to determine whether the description of the papers was sufficiently definite or the papers themselves material to the inquiry, or whether the production of such a volume of papers was oppressive. He must comply, so far as it was possible, with the terms of the writ and produce the
Every person subject to the jurisdiction of a competent tribunal is bound to give testimony. This is a “solemn and important duty that every citizen owes to his country.” Ward v. State, supra. He is privileged to decline only in case his answers may tend to criminate him. Our system of jurisprudence does not permit a witness to refuse to answer because he prefers not to or even because his answer will tend to degrade him, except, only, where degrading testimony is interposed solely to affect his credibility. 1 Greenl. on Ev. §§ 454, 455. See cases cited. Where the reason of the privilege ceases the privilege also ceases. Broom‘s Legal Maxims, 654; Brown v. Walker, 161 U. S. 597, 599.
The protection of the
Where the question of criminality is not involved, an officer of a corporation having the books of the company in his custody is bound to produce them in obedience to a subpœna duces tecum. Wertheim v. Continental R‘y & Trust Co., 15 Fed. Rep. 718. The same rule applies, even though the production of the evidence may tend to incriminate the corporation; one of its officers may not assert in its behalf the privilege secured to persons by the
The privilege embodied in the Amendment is upheld on grounds which vary to some extent; but the privilege is personal and is based upon the consideration of the law for the individual in his capacity as a witness. Brown v. Walker, 161 U. S. 596; Best on Evidence, 9th ed. p. 113; 3 Taylor on Evidence, § 1453; 1 Greenleaf on Evidence, 16th ed. § 469d, and cases cited in notes; Commonwealth v. Shaw, 4 Cush. 594; Phillipps on Evidence, 4th Am. ed. p. 935; Starkie on Evidence, 10th Am. ed. 4; Wigmore on Evidence, § 2263; State v. Wentworth, 65 Maine, 234, 241; Reynolds v. Reynolds, 15 Cox Cr. Cases, 108, 115; Bartlett v. Lewis, 12 C. B. (N. S.) 249, 265.
While sporadic cases look in a different direction, there have been many decisions, both in this country and in England, in which the courts have refused to permit the privilege to be asserted by an officer or employé in behalf of a corporation of which he is the representative. New York Life Ins. Co. v. People, 195 Illinois, 430; In re Moser, 101 N. W. Rep. 591; In re Peasley, 44 Fed. Rep. 271; Gibbons v. Waterloo Bridge, 5 Price, 491; Rex v. Purnell, Wilson, 239.
MR. JUSTICE BROWN, after making the foregoing statement, delivered the opinion of the court.
Two issues are presented by the record in this case, which are so far distinct as to require separate consideration. They depend upon the applicability of different provisions of the Constitution, and, in determining the question of affirmance or reversal, should not be confounded. The first of these involves the immunity of the witness from oral examination; the second, the legality of his action in refusing to produce the documents called for by the subpœna duces tecum.
1. The appellant justifies his action in refusing to answer the
The first objection requires a definition of the word “charge” as used in this connection, which it is not easy to furnish. An accused person is usually charged with crime by a complaint made before a committing magistrate, which has fully performed its office when the party is committed or held to bail, and it is quite unnecessary to the finding of an indictment by a grand jury; or by an information of the district attorney, which is of no legal value in prosecutions for felony; or by a presentment usually made, as in this case, for an offense committed in the presence of the jury; or by an indictment which, as often as not, is drawn after the grand jury has acted upon the testimony. If another kind of charge be contemplated, when and by whom must it be preferred? Must it be in writing, and if so, in what form? Or may it be oral? The suggestion of the witness that he should be furnished with a copy of such charge, if applicable to him is applicable to other witnesses summoned before the grand jury. Indeed, it is a novelty in criminal procedure with which we are wholly unacquainted, and one which might involve a betrayal of the secrets of the grand jury room.
Under the ancient English system, criminal prosecutions were instituted at the suit of private prosecutors, to which the King lent his name in the interest of the public peace and good order of society. In such cases the usual practice was to prepare the proposed indictment and lay it before the grand jury for their consideration. There was much propriety in this, as the most valuable function of the grand jury was not only to examine into the commission of crimes, but to stand between the prosecutor and the accused, and to determine whether the charge was founded upon credible testimony or was dictated by malice or personal ill will.
We are pointed to no case, however, holding that a grand jury
“A presentment, properly speaking, is a notice taken by a grand jury of any offense from their own knowledge or observation, without any bill of indictment laid before them at the suit of the King, as the presentment of a nuisance, a libel, and the like; upon which the officer of the court must afterwards frame an indictment, before the party presented can be put to answer it.”
Substantially the same language is used in 1 Chitty Crim. Law, 162.
In United States v. Hill, 1 Brock. 156, it was indicated by Chief Justice Marshall that a presentment and indictment are to be considered as one act, the second to be considered only as an amendment to the first, and that the usage of this country has been to pass over, unnoticed, presentments on which the attorney does not think it proper to institute proceedings.
In a case arising in Tennessee the grand jury, without the agency of the district attorney, had called witnesses before them, whom they interrogated as to their knowledge concerning the then late Cuban expedition. Mr. Justice Catron sustained the legality of the proceeding and compelled the wit-
While presentments have largely fallen into disuse in this country, the practice of grand juries acting upon notice, either of their own knowledge or upon information obtained by them, and incorporating their findings in an indictment, still largely obtains. Whatever doubts there may be with regard to the early English procedure, the practice in this country, under the system of public prosecutions carried on by officers of the State appointed for that purpose, has been entirely settled since the adoption of the Constitution. In a lecture delivered by Mr. Justice Wilson of this court, who may be assumed to have known the current practice, before the students of the University of Pennsylvania, he says (Wilson‘s Works, vol. II, page 213):
“It has been alleged, that grand juries are confined, in their inquiries, to the bills offered to them, to the crimes given them in charge, and to the evidence brought before them by the prosecutor. But these conceptions are much too contracted; they present but a very imperfect and unsatisfactory view of the duty required from grand jurors, and of the trust reposed in them. They are not appointed for the prosecutor or for the court; they are appointed for the government and for the people; and of both the government and people it is surely the concernment that, on one hand, all crimes, whether given or not given in charge, whether described or not described with professional skill, should receive the punishment, which the law denounces; and that, on the other hand, innocence, however strongly assailed by accusations drawn up in regular form, and
by accusers, marshalled in legal array, should, on full investigation, be secure in that protection, which the law engages that she shall enjoy inviolate. “The oath of a grand juryman and his oath is the commission under which he acts-assigns no limits, except those marked by diligence itself, to the course of his inquiries: Why, then, should it be circumscribed by more contracted boundaries? Shall diligent inquiry be enjoined? And shall the means and opportunities of inquiry be prohibited or restrained??”
Similar language was used by Judge Addison, President of the Court of Common Pleas, in charging the grand jury at the session of the Common Pleas Court in 1791 (Addison‘s Pa. Rep. Appx. p. 38):
“If the grand jury, of their own knowledge, or the knowledge of any of them, or from the examination of witnesses, know of any offense committed in the county, for which no indictment is preferred to them, it is their duty, either to inform the officer, who prosecutes for the State, of the nature of the offense, and desire that an indictment for it be laid before them; or, if they do not, or if no such indictment be given them, it is their duty to give such information of it to the court; stating, without any particular form, the facts and circumstances which constitute the offense. This is called a presentment.”
The practice then prevailing, with regard to the duty of grand juries, shows that a presentment may be based not only upon their own personal knowledge, but from the examination of witnesses.
While no case has arisen in this court in which the question has been distinctly presented, the authorities in the state courts largely preponderate in favor of the theory that the grand jury may act upon information received by them from the examination of witnesses without a formal indictment, or other charge previously laid before them. An analysis of cases approving of this method of procedure would unduly burden this opinion, but the following are the leading ones upon the subject: Ward v. State, 2 Missouri, 120; State v. Terry, 30 Missouri, 368; Ex
“However restricted the functions of the grand juries may be elsewhere, we hold that in this State they have plenary inquisitorial powers, and may lawfully themselves, and upon their own motion, originate charges against offenders though no preliminary proceedings have been had before a magistrate, and though neither the court nor the state‘s attorney has laid the matter before them.”
The rulings of the inferior Federal courts are to the same effect. Mr. Justice Field, in charging a grand jury in California (2 Sawy. 667), said to the grand jury acting upon their own knowledge:
“Not by rumors or reports, but by knowledge acquired from the evidence before you, and from your own observations. Whilst you are inquiring as to one offense, another and a different offense may be proved, or witnesses before you may, in testifying, commit the crime of perjury.”
Similar language was used in United States v. Kimball, 117 Fed. Rep. 156, 161; United States v. Reed, 2 Blatch. 435, 449; United States v. Terry, 39 Fed. Rep. 355. And in Frisbie v. United States, 157 U. S. 160, it is said by Mr. Justice Brewer:
“But in this country it is for the grand jury to investigate any alleged crime, no matter how or by whom suggested to them, and after determining that the evidence is sufficient to justify putting the suspected party on trial, to direct the preparation of the formal charge or indictment.”
There are doubtless a few cases in the state courts which take a contrary view, but they are generally such as deal with the abuses of the system, as the indiscriminate summoning of witnesses with no definite object in view and in a spirit of meddlesome inquiry. In the most pertinent of these cases, In re Lester, 77 Georgia, 143, the Mayor of Savannah, who was also ex
This case is readily distinguishable from the one under consideration, in the fact that the subpœna in this case did specify the action as one between the United States and the American Tobacco Company and the MacAndrews-Forbes Company; and that the Georgia Penal Code prescribed a form of oath for the grand jury, “that the evidence you shall give the grand jury on this bill of indictment (or presentment, as the case may be, here state the case), shall be the truth,” etc. This seems to confine the witness to a charge already laid before the jury.
In Lewis v. Board of Commissioners, 74 N. Car. 194, the English practice, which requires a preliminary investigation where the accused can confront the accuser and witnesses with testimony, was adopted as more consonant to principles of justice and personal liberty. It was further said that none but witnesses have any business before the grand jury, and that the solicitor may not be present, even to examine them. The practice in this particular in the Federal courts has been quite the contrary.
Other cases lay down the principle that it must be made to appear to the grand jury that there is reason to believe that a crime has been committed, and that they have not the power to institute or prosecute an inquiry on the chance that some crime may be discovered. In Matter of Morse, 18 N. Y. Criminal Rep. 312; State v. Adams, 70 Tennessee, 647 (an unimportant case, turning upon a local statute). In Pennsylvania grand juries are somewhat more restricted in their powers than is usual in other States, McCullough v. Commonwealth, 67 Pa. St.
We deem it entirely clear that under the practice in this country, at least, the examination of witnesses need not be preceded by a presentment or indictment formally drawn up, but that the grand jury may proceed, either upon their own knowledge or upon the examination of witnesses, to inquire for themselves whether a crime cognizable by the court has been committed; that the result of their investigations may be subsequently embodied in an indictment, and that in summoning witnesses it is quite sufficient to apprise them of the names of the parties with respect to whom they will be called to testify, without indicating the nature of the charge against them. So valuable is this inquisitorial power of the grand jury that, in States where felonies may be prosecuted by information as well as indictment, the power is ordinarily reserved to courts of impanelling grand juries for the investigation of riots, frauds and nuisances, and other cases where it is impracticable to ascertain in advance the names of the persons implicated. It is impossible to conceive that in such cases the examination of witnesses must be stopped until a basis is laid by an indictment formally preferred, when the very object of the examination is to ascertain who shall be indicted. As criminal prosecutions are instituted by the State through an officer selected for that purpose, he is vested with a certain discretion with respect to the cases he will call to their attention, the number and character of the witnesses, the form in which the indictment shall be drawn, and other details of the proceedings. Doubtless abuses of this power may be imagined, as if the object of the inquiry were merely to pry into the details of domestic or business life. But were such abuses called to the attention of the court, it would doubtless be alert to repress them. While the grand jury may not indict upon current rumors or unverified reports, they may act upon knowledge acquired either from their own obser-
2. Appellant also invokes the protection of the
The answer to this is found in a proviso to the General Appropriation Act of February 25, 1903, 32 Stat. 854, 904, that “no person shall be prosecuted or be subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter or thing concerning which he may testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, in any proceeding, suit, or prosecution under said acts,” of which the Anti Trust Law is one, providing, however, that “no person so testifying shall be exempt from prosecution or punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.”
While there may be some doubt whether the examination of witnesses before a grand jury is a suit or prosecution, we have no doubt that it is a “proceeding” within the meaning of this proviso. The word should receive as wide a construction as is necessary to protect the witness in his disclosures, whenever such disclosures are made in pursuance of a judicial inquiry, whether such inquiry be instituted by a grand jury, or upon the trial of an indictment found by them. The word “proceeding” is not a technical one, and is aptly used by courts to designate an inquiry before a grand jury. It has received this interpretation in a number of cases. Yates v. The Queen, 14 Q. B. D. 648; Hogan v. State, 30 Wisconsin, 428.
The object of the amendment is to establish in express language and upon a firm basis the general principle of English and American jurisprudence, that no one shall be compelled to give testimony which may expose him to prosecution for crime. It is not declared that he may not be compelled to testify to facts which may impair his reputation for probity, or even tend to disgrace him, but the line is drawn at testimony that may ex-
The interdiction of the
We need not restate the reasons given in Brown v. Walker, both in the opinion of the court, and in the dissenting opinion, wherein all the prior authorities were reviewed, and a conclusion reached by a majority of the court, which fully covers the case under consideration.
The suggestion that a person who has testified compulsorily before a grand jury may not be able, if subsequently indicted for some matter concerning which he testified, to procure the evidence necessary to maintain his plea, is more fanciful than real. He would have not only his own oath in support of his immunity, but the notes often, though not always, taken of the testimony before the grand jury, as well as the testimony of the prosecuting officer, and of every member of the jury present. It is scarcely possible that all of them would have forgotten the general nature of his incriminating testimony or that any serious conflict would arise therefrom. In any event, it is a question relating to the weight of the testimony, which could scarcely be considered in determining the effect of the immunity statute. The difficulty of maintaining a case upon the available evidence is a danger which the law does not recognize. In prosecuting a case, or in setting up a defense, the law takes no account of the practical difficulty which either party may have in procuring his testimony. It judges of the law by the facts which each party claims, and not by what he may ultimately establish.
The further suggestion that the statute offers no immunity from prosecution in the state courts was also fully considered in Brown v. Walker and held to be no answer. The converse of this was also decided in Jack v. Kansas, 199 U. S. 372, namely, that the fact that an immunity granted to a witness under a state statute would not prevent a prosecution of such witness for a violation of a Federal statute, did not invalidate such statute under the
The case of United States v. Saline Bank, 1 Pet. 100, is not in conflict with this. That was a bill for discovery, filed by the United States against the cashier of the Saline Bank, in the District Court of the Virginia District, who pleaded that the emission of certain unlawful bills took place, within the State of Virginia, by the law whereof penalties were inflicted for such emissions. It was held that defendants were not bound to answer and subject themselves to those penalties. It is sufficient to say that the prosecution was under a state law which imposed the penalty, and that the Federal court was simply administering the state law, and no question arose as to a prosecution under another jurisdiction.
But it is further insisted that while the immunity statute may protect individual witnesses it would not protect the corporation of which appellant was the agent and representative. This is true, but the answer is that it was not designed to do so. The right of a person under the
3. The second branch of the case relates to the non-production by the witness of the books and papers called for by the subpœna duces tecum. The witness put his refusal on the ground, first, that it was impossible for him to collect them within the time allowed; second, because he was advised by counsel that under the circumstances he was under no obligation to produce them; and, finally, because they might tend to incriminate him.
Had the witness relied solely upon the first ground, doubtless the court would have given him the necessary time. The last ground we have already held untenable. While the second ground does not set forth with technical accuracy the real rea-
The construction of this amendment was exhaustively considered in the case of Boyd v. United States, 116 U. S. 616, which was an information in rem against certain cases of plate glass, alleged to have been imported in fraud of the revenue acts. On the trial it became important to show the quantity and value of the glass contained in a number of cases previously imported; and the district judge, under section 5 of the act of June 22, 1874, directed a notice to be given to the claimants, requiring them to produce the invoice of these cases under penalty that the allegations respecting their contents should be taken as confessed. We held (p. 622) “that a compulsory production of a man‘s private papers to establish a criminal charge against him, or to forfeit his property, is within the scope of the
The history of this provision of the Constitution and its connection with the former practice of general warrants, or writs of assistance, was given at great length, and the conclusion reached that the compulsory extortion of a man‘s own testimony, or of his private papers, to connect him with a crime or a forfeiture of his goods, is illegal (p. 634), “is compelling him to be a witness against himself, within the meaning of the
“It was clearly competent for Congress, to that end, to invest the Commission with authority to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of books, papers, tariffs, contracts, agreements and documents relating to any matter legally committed to that body for investigation. We do not understand that any of these propositions are disputed in this case.”
The case of Adams v. New York, 192 U. S. 585, which was a writ of error to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, involving the seizure of certain gambling paraphernalia, was treated as involving the construction of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Federal Constitution. It was held, in substance, that the fact that papers pertinent to the issue may have been illegally taken from the possession of the party against whom they are offered, was not a valid objection to their admissibility; that the admission, as evidence in a criminal trial of papers found in the execution of a valid search warrant prior to the indictment, was not an infringement of the
The Boyd case must also be read in connection with the still later case of Interstate Commerce Commission v. Baird, 194 U. S. 25, which arose upon the petition of the Commission for orders requiring the testimony of witnesses and the production of certain books, papers and documents. The case grew out of a complaint against certain railway companies that they charged unreasonable and unjust rates for the transportation of anthracite coal. Objection was made to the production of certain contracts between these companies upon the ground that it would compel the witnesses to furnish evidence against themselves in violation of the
Having already held that by reason of the immunity act of 1903, the witness could not avail himself of the
If, whenever an officer or employé of a corporation were summoned before a grand jury as a witness he could refuse to produce the books and documents of such corporation, upon the ground that they would incriminate the corporation itself, it would result in the failure of a large number of cases where the illegal combination was determinable only upon the examination of such papers. Conceding that the witness was an officer of the corporation under investigation, and that he was entitled to assert the rights of the corporation with respect to the production of its books and papers, we are of the opinion that there is a clear distinction in this particular between an individual and a corporation, and that the latter has no right to refuse to submit its books and papers for an examination at the suit of the State. The individual may stand upon his constitutional rights as a citizen. He is entitled to carry on his private business in his own way. His power to contract is unlimited. He owes no duty to the State or to his neighbors to divulge his business, or to open his doors to an investigation, so far as it may tend to criminate him. He owes no such duty to the State, since he receives nothing therefrom, beyond the protection of his life and property. His rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution. Among his rights are a refusal to incriminate himself, and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under a warrant of the law. He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights.
Upon the other hand, the corporation is a creature of the State. It is presumed to be incorporated for the benefit of the public. It receives certain special privileges and franchises, and holds them subject to the laws of the State and the limitations of its charter. Its powers are limited by law. It can make no contract not authorized by its charter. Its rights to
It is true that the corporation in this case was chartered under the laws of New Jersey, and that it receives its franchise from the legislature of that State; but such franchises, so far as they involve questions of interstate commerce, must also be exercised in subordination to the power of Congress to regulate such commerce, and in respect to this the General Government may also assert a sovereign authority to ascertain whether such franchises have been exercised in a lawful manner, with a due regard to its own laws. Being subject to this dual sovereignty, the General Government possesses the same right to see that its own laws are respected as the State would have with respect to the special franchises vested in it by the laws of the State. The powers of the General Government in this particular in the vindication of its own laws, are the same as if the corporation had been created by an act of Congress. It is not intended to intimate, however, that it has a general visitatorial power over state corporations.
4. Although, for the reasons above stated, we are of the
We are also of opinion that an order for the production of books and papers may constitute an unreasonable search and seizure within the
If the writ had required the production of all the books, papers and documents found in the office of the MacAndrews & Forbes Company, it would scarcely be more universal in its operation, or more completely put a stop to the business of that company. Indeed, it is difficult to say how its business could be carried on after it had been denuded of this mass of material, which is not shown to be necessary in the prosecution of this case, and is clearly in violation of the general principle of law with regard to the particularity required in the description of documents necessary to a search warrant or subpœna. Doubtless many, if not all, of these documents may ultimately be required, but some necessity should be shown, either from an examination of the witnesses orally, or from the known transactions of these companies with the other companies implicated, or some evidence of their materiality produced, to justify an order for the production of such a mass of papers. A general subpœna of this description is equally indefensible as a search warrant would be if couched in similar terms. Ex parte Brown, 72 Missouri, 83; Shaftsbury v. Arrowsmith, 4 Ves. 66; Lee v. Angas, L. R. 2 Eq. 59.
Of course, in view of the power of Congress over interstate commerce to which we have adverted, we do not wish to be understood as holding that an examination of the books of a corporation, if duly authorized by act of Congress, would constitute an unreasonable search and seizure within the
But this objection to the subpœna does not go to the validity of the order remanding the petitioner, which is, therefore,
Affirmed.
MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, concurring.
I concur entirely in what is said in the opinion of the court
MR. JUSTICE MCKENNA, also concurring.
I concur in the judgment but not in all the propositions declared by the court. I think the subpœna is sufficiently definite. The charge pending was a violation of the Anti Trust Act of 1890. The documents and papers sought were the understandings and agreements of the accused companies. That the documents commanded were many or evidenced transactions occurring through a period of time are not circumstances fatal to the validity of the subpœna. If there was a violation of the Anti Trust Act, that is, combinations in restraint of trade, it would be probably evidenced by formal agreements, but it might also be evidenced or its transactions alluded to in tele-
I cannot think that the consequences mentioned are important or necessary to the argument. A more serious matter is the application of the
It is said “a search implies a quest by an officer of the law; a seizure contemplates a forcible dispossession of the owner.” Nothing can be more direct and plain; nothing more expressive to distinguish a subpœna from a search warrant. Can a subpœna lose this essential distinction from a search warrant by the generality or speciality of its terms? I think not. The distinction is based upon what is authorized or directed to be done—not upon the form of words by which the authority or command is given. “The quest of an officer” acts upon the things themselves—may be secret, intrusive, accompanied by force. The service of a subpœna is but the delivery of a paper to a party—is open and aboveboard. There is no element of trespass or force in it. It does not disturb the possession of property: It cannot be finally enforced except after challenge, and a judgment of the court upon the challenge. This is a safeguard against abuse the same as it is of other processes of the
However, I may apprehend consequences that the opinion does not intend. It seems to be admitted that many, if not all, of the documents may ultimately be required, but it is said “some necessity should be shown, either from an examination of the witnesses orally, or from the known transactions of these companies with the other companies implicated, or some evidence of their materiality produced, to justify an order for their production.” This intimates a different objection to the order of the court than the generality of the subpœna, and, if good at all, would be good even though few instead of many documents had been required or described ever so specifically. I am constrained to dissent from it. The materiality of his testimony is not open to a witness to determine, and the order of proof is for the court. Besides, if a grand jury may investigate without specific charge, may investigate upon the suggestion of one of its members, must it demonstrate the materiality of every piece of testimony it calls for before it can require the testimony? So limit the power of a grand jury and you may make it impotent in cases where it needs power most and in which its function can best be exercised.
But what does the record show? It shows that Hale refused to give the testimony that, this court says, should have preceded the order under review. He refused to answer what the business of the MacAndrews & Forbes Company was or where its office was, or whether there was an agreement with the company and the American Tobacco Company in regard to the products of their respective businesses or whether the company he represented sold its products throughout the United States. The ground of refusal was that there was no legal warrant or authority for his examination, not that the documents or tes-
By virtue of its dominion over interstate commerce Congress has power, the opinion of the court asserts, over corporations engaged in that commerce. And the power is the same as if the corporations had been created by Congress. And yet it is said to be a power subject to the limitation of the
MR. JUSTICE BREWER, with whom the CHIEF JUSTICE concurred, dissenting.
With what is said in the opinion of the court of the necessity of a “charge,” with the proposition that the immunity granted by the Federal statute is sufficient protection against both the Nation and the several States, with the holding that the protection accorded by the
Further, I desire to emphasize certain truths which in this and other cases decided to-day seem to be ignored or depreciated. The immunities and protection of articles 4, 5 and 14
It may be well to compare the words of description in articles 4 and 5 with those in article 14:
“Article 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
“Article 5. No person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
“Article 14. . . . Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U. S. 394, 396, Mr. Chief Justice Waite said:
“The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution , which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does.”
See also Pembina Mining Company v. Pennsylvania, 125 U. S. 181; Missouri Pacific Railway Company v. Mackey, 127 U. S. 205; Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway Company v. Beckwith, 129 U. S. 26; Charlotte &c. Railroad v. Gibbes, 142 U. S. 386; Monongahela Navigation Company v. United States, 148 U. S. 312; Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry. v. Ellis, 165 U. S. 150, 154,
These decisions were under the
By the
As repeatedly held, a corporation is a citizen of a State for purposes of jurisdiction of Federal courts, and, as a citizen, it may locate mining claims under the laws of the United States, McKinley v. Wheeler, 130 U. S. 630, and is entitled to the benefit of the Indian Depredation Acts. United States v. Northwestern Express Company, 164 U. S. 686. Indeed, it is essentially but an association of individuals, to which is given certain rights and privileges, and in which is vested the legal title. The beneficial ownership is in the individuals, the corporation being simply an instrumentality by which the powers granted to these associated individuals may be exercised. As said by Chief Justice Marshall in Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514, 562: “The great object of an incorporation is to bestow the character and properties of individuality on a collective and changing body of men.”
United States v. Amedy, 11 Wheat. 392, was the case of an indictment under an act of Congress for destroying a vessel with intent to prejudice the underwriters. The act of Congress declared that “if any person shall . . . willfully and corruptly cast away . . . : any ship or vessel . . . with intent or design to prejudice any person or persons that hath underwritten, or shall underwrite, any policy,” etc. The indictment charged an intent to defraud an incorporated insurance company, and the court held that a corporation is a person within the meaning of the act, saying (p. 412):
“The mischief intended to be reached by the statute is the
same, whether it respects private or corporate persons. That corporations are, in law, for civil purposes, deemed persons, is unquestionable. And the citation from 2 Inst. 736, establishes that they are so deemed within the purview of penal statutes. Lord Coke, there, in commenting on the statute of 31 Eliz. c. 7, respecting the erection of cottages, where the word used is, ‘no person shall,’ etc., says, ‘this extends as well to persons politic and incorporate, as to natural persons whatsoever.’ ”
Neither does the fact that a corporation is engaged in interstate commerce in any manner abridge the protection and applicable immunities accorded by the Amendments. The corporation of which the petitioner was an officer was chartered by a State, and over it the General Government has no more control than over an individual citizen of that State. Its power to regulate commerce does not carry with it a right to dispense with the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, to unreasonably search or seize the papers of an individual or corporation engaged in such commerce, or deprive him or it of any immunity or protection secured by either Amendment.
It is true that there is a power of supervision and inspection of the inside workings of a corporation, but that belongs to the creator of the corporation. If a State has chartered it, the power is lodged in the State. If the Nation, then in the Nation, and it cannot be exercised by any other authority. It is in the nature of the power of visitation.
In Angell & Ames on Corporations, 9th ed. c. 19, §§ 684, 685, the authors say:
“To render the charters or constitutions, ordinances and bylaws of corporations of perfect obligation, and generally to maintain their peace and good government, these bodies are subject to visitation; or, in other words, to the inspection and control of tribunals recognized by the laws of the land. Civil corporations are visited by the Government itself, through the medium of the courts of justice; but the internal affairs of ecclesiastical and eleemosynary corporations are, in general, inspected and controlled by a private visitor.
In this country, where there is no individual founder or donor, the legislature are the visitors of all corporations founded by them for public purposes, and may direct judicial proceedings against them for abuse or neglects which at common law would cause a forfeiture of their charters.”
The matter is discussed in Blackstone‘s Commentaries, in par. 3, chap. 18, Book I, and he says:
“I proceed, therefore, next to inquire how these corporations may be visited. For corporations, being composed of individuals, subject to human frailties, are liable, as well as private persons, to deviate from the end of their institution. And for that reason the law has provided proper persons to visit, inquire into, and correct all irregularities that arise in such corporations, either sole or aggregate, and whether ecclesiastical, civil or eleemosynary.”
And in respect to civil corporations he adds, same paragraph and chapter (*782):
“The law having by immemorial usage appointed them to be visited and inspected by the King, their founder, in His Majesty‘s Court of King‘s Bench, according to the rules of the common law, they ought not to be visited elsewhere, or by any other authority.”
In 2 Kent, *300, the author says: “The visitation of civil corporations is by the Government itself, through the medium of the courts of justice.”
In Amherst Academy v. Cowls, 6 Pick. 427, 433, it was held that:
“Without doubt the legislature are the visitors of all corporations founded by them for public purposes, where there is no individual founder or donor, and may direct judicial process against them for abuses or neglects which by common law would cause a forfeiture of their charters.”
The right of visitation is for the purpose of control and to see that the corporation keeps within the limits of its powers. It would be strange if a corporation doing business in a dozen States was subject to the visitation of each of those States, and
“It may be that it (the proceeding in question) is the obnoxious thing in its mildest and least repulsive form; but illegitimate and unconstitutional practices get their first footing in that way, namely, by silent approaches and slight deviations from legal modes of procedure. This can only be obviated by adhering to the rule that constitutional provisions for the security of person and property should be liberally construed. A close and literal construction deprives them of half their efficacy, and leads to gradual depreciation of the right, as if it consisted more in sound than in substance. It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be obsta principiis.”
Finally, as the subpœna duces tecum was the initiatory step in the proceedings before the grand jury against this petitioner,
The case is not parallel to that of an indictment in two counts upon which a general judgment is entered, and one of which counts is held good and the other bad, for a writ of habeas corpus is not a writ of error, and the order to be entered thereon is for a discharge or a remand to custody. If a discharge is ordered no punishment can be inflicted under the judgment as rendered, and if a new prosecution is instituted containing the good count a plea of former conviction will be a full defense. But in the case at bar an order for a discharge will have no such result. The habeas corpus statute, Rev. Stat., § 761, provides that “the court, or justice, or judge shall proceed in a summary way . . . to dispose of the party as law and justice require.” Justice requires that he should not be subjected to the costs of this habeas corpus proceeding, or be punished for contempt when he was fully justified in disregarding the principal demand made upon him.
The order of the Circuit Court should be reversed and the case remanded with instructions to discharge the petitioner, leaving to the grand jury the right to initiate new proceedings not subject to the objections to this.
I am authorized to say that the CHIEF JUSTICE concurs in these views.