ROVIARO v. UNITED STATES
No. 58
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 11, 1956.—Decided March 25, 1957.
353 U.S. 53
James W. Knapp argued the cause for the United States. On the brief were Solicitor General Rankin, Assistant Attorney General Olney, Beatrice Rosenberg and Julia P. Cooper.
MR. JUSTICE BURTON delivered the opinion of the Court.
This сase concerns a conviction for violation of the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, as amended.1
In 1955, in the Northern District of Illinois, petitioner, Albert Roviaro, was indicted on two counts by a federal grand jury. The first count charged that on August 12, 1954, at Chicago, Illinois, he sold heroin to one “John Doe” in violation of
Before trial, petitioner moved for a bill оf particulars requesting, among other things, the name, address and occupation of “John Doe.” The Government objected on the ground that John Doe was an informer and that his identity was privileged. The motion was denied.
Petitioner, who was represented by counsel, waived a jury and was tried by the District Court. During the trial John Doe‘s part in the charged transaction was described by government witnesses, and counsel for petitioner, in cross-examining them, sought repeatedly to learn John Doe‘s identity. The court declined to permit this cross-examination and John Doe was not produced, identified, or otherwise made available. Petitioner was
At the trial, the Government relied on the testimony of two federal narcotics agents, Durham and Fields, and two Chicago police officers, Bryson and Sims, each of whom knew petitioner by sight. On the night of August 12, 1954, these four officers met at 75th Street and Prairie Avenue in Chicago with an informer described only as John Doe.3 Doe and his Cadillac car were searched and no narcotics were found. Bryson secreted himself in the trunk of Doe‘s Cadillac, taking with him a device with which to raise the trunk lid from the inside. Doe then drove the Cadillac to 70th Place and St. Lawrence Avenue, followed by Durham in one government car and Field and Sims in another. After an hour‘s wait, at about 11 o‘clock, petitioner arrived in a Pontiac, accompanied by an un-
Meanwhile, Bryson, concealed in the trunk of the Cadillac, had heard a conversation between John Doe and petitioner after the latter had entered the car. He heard petitioner greet John Doe and direct him where to drive. At one point, petitioner admonished him to pull over to the curb, cut the motor, and turn out the lights so as to lose a “tail.” He then told him to continue “further down.” Petitioner asked about money Doe owed him. He advised Doe that he had brought him “three pieces this time.” When Bryson heard Doe being ordered to stop the car, he raised the lid of the trunk slightly. After the car stopped, he saw petitioner walk to a tree, pick up a package, and return toward the car. He heard petitioner say, “Here it is,” and “I‘ll call you in a couple of days.” Shortly thereafter he heard Durham‘s signal to come out and emerged from the trunk to find Durham holding a small package found to contain three glassine envelopes containing a white powder.
I.
Petitioner contends that the trial court erred in upholding the right of the Government to withhold the identity of John Doe. He argues that Doe was an active participant in the illegal activity charged and that, therefore, the Government could not withhold his identity, his whereabouts, and whether he was alive or dead at the time of trial.5 The Government does not defend the nondisclosure of Doe‘s identity with respect to Count 1, which charged a sale of heroin to John Doe, but it attempts to sustain the judgment on the basis of the con-
What is usually referred to as the informer‘s privilege is in reality the Government‘s privilege to withhold from disclosure the identity of persons who furnish information of violations of law to officers charged with enforcement of that law. Scher v. United States, 305 U. S. 251, 254; In re Quarles and Butler, 158 U. S. 532; Vogel v. Gruaz, 110 U. S. 311, 316. The purpose of the privilege is the furtherance and protection of the public interest in effective law enforcement. The privilege recognizes the obligation of citizens to communicate their knowledge of the commission of crimes to law-enforcement officials and, by preserving their anonymity, encourages them to perform that obligation.
A further limitation on the applicability of the privilege arises from the fundamental requirements of fairness. Where the disclosure of an informer‘s identity, or of the contents of his communication, is relevant and helpful
Three recent cases in the Courts of Appeals have involved the identical problem raised here—thе Government‘s right to withhold the identity of an informer who helped to set up the commission of the crime and who was present at its occurrence. Portomene v. United States, 221 F. 2d 582; United States v. Conforti, 200 F. 2d 365; Sorrentino v. United States, 163 F. 2d 627. In each case it was stated that the identity of such an informer must be disclosed whenever the informer‘s testi-
We believe that no fixed rule with respect to disclosure is justifiable. The problem is one that calls for balancing the public interest in protecting the flow of information against the individual‘s right to prepare his defense. Whether a proper balance renders nondisclosure erroneous must depend on the particular circumstances of each case, taking into consideration the crime charged, the possible defenses, the possible significance of the informer‘s testimony, and other relevant factors.
II.
The materiality of John Doe‘s possible testimony must be determined by reference to the offense charged in Count 2 and the evidence relating to that count. The
It is true that the last sentence of subdivision (c) of § 2 authorizes a conviction when the Government has proved that the accused possessed narcotics, unless the accused explains or justifies such possession.13 But this statutory presumption does not reduce the offense to one of mere possession or shift the burden of proof; it merely places on the accused, at a certain point, the burden of going fоrward with his defense.14 The fact that petitioner here was faced with the burden of explaining or justifying his alleged possession of the heroin emphasizes his vital need for access to any material witness. Otherwise, the burden of going forward might become unduly heavy.
The circumstances of this case demonstrate that John Doe‘s possible testimony was highly relevant and might
Finally, the Government‘s use against petitioner of his conversation with John Doe while riding in Doe‘s car particularly emphasizes the unfairness of the nondisclosure in this case. The only person, other than petitioner himself, who could controvert, explain or amplify Bryson‘s report of this important conversation was John Doe. Contradiction or amplification might have borne upon petitioner‘s knowledge of thе contents of the package or might have tended to show an entrapment.
This is a case where the Government‘s informer was the sole participant, other than the accused, in the transaction charged. The informer was the only witness in a position to amplify or contradict the testimony of government witnesses. Moreover, a government witness testified that Doe denied knowing petitioner or ever hav-
Petitioner also presents a claim of error arising out of a controversy over the correctness of an entry, made on the envelope containing the heroin, to the effect that the heroin had been found by Bryson. The undisputed testimony of the officers was that the heroin had been found by Durham and handed by him to Bryson who, in turn, handed it to Fields who made the erroneous entry. On the basis of this discrepancy, petitioner sought to obtain Durham‘s written report to the Federal Narcotics Bureau concerning the case. Although this discrepancy dealt with the relatively minor matter of who had first found the package, it also reflected upon the credibility of Durham and Fields, two of the Government‘s principal witnesses. However, in view of the decision we have reached on other grounds, we deem it unnecessary to determine whether the denial of this request, even if erroneous, was prejudicial to petitioner.
Reversed and remanded.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE WHITTAKER took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
MR. JUSTICE CLARK, dissenting.
It is with regret that I dissent from the opinion of the Court, not because I am alone, but for the reаson that I have been unable to convince the majority of the unsoundness of its conclusion on the facts here and the destructive effect which that conclusion will have on the enforcement of the narcotic laws. The short of it is that the conviction of a self-confessed dope peddler is reversed because the Government refused to furnish the name of its informant whose identity the undisputed evidence indicated was well known to the peddler. Yet the Court reverses on the ground of “unfairness” because of the Government‘s failure to perform this fruitless gesture. In my view this does violence to the common understanding of what is fair аnd just.
First, it is well to remember that the illegal traffic in narcotic drugs poses a most serious social problem. One need only read the newspapers to gauge its enormity. No crime leads more directly to the commission of other offenses. Moreover, it is a most difficult crime to detect and prove. Because drugs come in small pills or powder and are readily packaged in capsules or glassine containers, they may be easily concealed. They can be carried on the person or even in the body crevasses where detection is almost impossible. Enforcement is, therefore, most difficult without the usе of “stool pigeons” or informants.
Of course where enforcement of a nondisclosure policy deprives an acсused of a fair trial it must either be relaxed or the prosecution must be foregone. The Government is fully aware of this dilemma and solves it every day by foregoing prosecutions in many cases where evidence essential to the defense would require disclosure. But this is not such a case.
In note 8 of the majority opinion, ante, p. 60, the Court makes much of testimony of a police officer that the informant, while at the police station, “denied knowing, or ever having seen, petitioner.” I submit that this testimony is taken out of its proper setting. The informant was in custody when petitioner was arrested and the two were taken to the police station where each was kept in custody overnight. There, while in custody, they were interrogated together about the occurrences leading up to the arrests. The federal officer present at the time was questioned at the trial in regard to informant‘s answers at the station:
“Q. As a matter of fact, [the informant] said he did not have a transaction with him, didn‘t he, in Roviaro‘s presence?
“A. Do you want the entire conversation?
“Q. Isn‘t what I asked you a fact?
“A. No, sir. He didn‘t deny it.
“Q. Didn‘t [the informant] say he didn‘t even know him?
“A. Yes, sir; at first he did.”1
In proper context this merely shows that the informant was carrying out a pretense that he too was arrested, was involved, and was not “squealing.” In fact, officer Bryson attempted in his testimony to explain the “purpose” of the informant in so answering but was prevented by petitioner‘s counsеl.
Moreover, the uncontradicted evidence is that the petitioner knew the informant and had associated with him for some time. Two officers testified that they had seen petitioner on June 22, 1954, enter the informant‘s car on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Another saw informant and petitioner enter the latter‘s home together on June 28, only six weeks prior to the events in question here. Further testimony shows that the informant was indebted to the petitioner, that the petitioner had telephoned several times to informant‘s home and “at the place,” that petitioner was going to call again in a couple of days after the date оf his arrest, and that he entered informant‘s car on the night of the arrest and drove around with him for several miles. The Court asserts that the conversation between the informant and petitioner while on this ride “emphasizes the unfairness of the nondisclosure in this case.” But if we limit the officer‘s testimony to the statements of petitioner alone, the testimony would prove the intimacy of the acquaintance between petitioner and the informant. It would show that petitioner directed the informant to the cache and admonished him to turn out the car lights because of a “tail“; that petitioner knew
But this is not all. The petitioner has not mentioned a single substantial ground essential to his defense which would make it necessary for the Government to name the informer. The Court mentions that there might have been entrapment. Petitioner not only failed to claim entrapment but his counsel appears to have rejected any suggestion of it in open court. I submit the Court should not raise it for him here. It should be noted that petitioner‘s counsel stated in open court that petitioner knew the informant and believed he was dead.2 Were there
In truth, it appеars that petitioner hoped that the Government would not furnish the name for, if the informant was dead as he believed, petitioner‘s ground was cut from under him. If the informant was living he knew that even though his testimony was favorable it would not be sufficient to overcome the presumption of the statute. In fact, a casual reading of the record paints a picture of one vainly engaging in trial tactics rather than searching for real defenses—shadowboxing with the prosecution in a baseless attempt to get a name that he already had but in reality hoping to get a reversible error that was nowhere else in sight. We should not encouragе such tactics.
In light of these facts the rule announced by the Court in note 8 of the opinion should be applied, i. e., that the trial “court‘s failure to require disclosure would not be prejudicial even if erroneous. See Sorrentino v. United States, 163 F. 2d 627.”
The position of the Court is that since the trial judge made no finding that petitioner knew the informant, the Government cannot successfully assert harmless error. It is true that the Court made no finding other than that of guilt. But this general finding is entitled to the support of every reasonable presumption. It would be reasonable to assume that the trial judge declined to order the disclosure because petitioner‘s counsel had said in open court that he knew the identity of the informant. Furthermore, petitioner has made no showing of how he
I come now to the necessary proof required for a finding of guilt under Count 2. All that is necessary here is proof of possession of unstamped narcotics, such as heroin. The direct, uncontroverted evidence of possession, as well as transportation, is in the record. Two officers, one a local policeman and the other a regular federal narcotics agent, saw petitioner when he had in his hand a package сontaining heroin. The package was unstamped. A third officer saw petitioner leave the scene of his crime, get into his car, and ride away. The identification by each of the three is positive and stands uncontradicted. Under the Narcotic Drugs Act,
Feeling as I do that the opinion of the Court seriously jeopardizes the privilege of the Government in cases involving informers, that their use in narcotic cases is an absolute necessity in the proper administration of the narcotic laws, and that the disclosure required here today is not only unessential to the petitioner‘s defense but on the other hand undermines a long-standing policy necessary to the successful enforcement of the narcotic laws, I respectfully dissent.