Lawlor v. Roberts

62 Misc. 2d 218, 308 N.Y.S.2d 475, 1970 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1819
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 10, 1970
StatusPublished

This text of 62 Misc. 2d 218 (Lawlor v. Roberts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawlor v. Roberts, 62 Misc. 2d 218, 308 N.Y.S.2d 475, 1970 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1819 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1970).

Opinion

Max Bloom, J.

Plaintiff brings suit for an injunction restraining the District Attorney of Bronx County from requiring his appearance before the Grand Jury to testify with respect to a specific matter. Pending trial, he seeks an order setting aside the subpoena heretofore served upon him. Relief is sought under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Federal Constitution.

The fact situation giving rise to the alleged need for judicial intervention arises out of a fairly simple set of circumstances. In the latter part of 1967 the District Attorney of Bronx County [219]*219undertook an investigation into an alleged realty fraud. This investigation disclosed that one Howard E. Spier sought a mortgage on certain real property. In order to obtain the mortgage it became necessary for the title search to show the property free from incumbrances. Spier enlisted the co-operation of one Jacob Rosen, an employee of Lawyers’ Title Insurance Co. With his assistance, Spier was enabled to exhibit a title search which showed no incumbrances, although such incumbrances did, in fact, exist.

The end result of these shenanigans was the granting of a first mortgage to 212 Equities, Inc., a Spier corporation, in the sum of $175,000. The mortgage was insured by Lawyers’ Title. Upon default in payments under the mortgage it was disclosed that prior liens, in fact, existed. Lawyers’ Title then paid the principal amount of the mortgage to Local 32E, Building Service Employees International Union, the mortgagee.

On April 2, 1968 Rosen was called as a witness before the Grand Jury. In order to compel his testimony, statutory immunity was granted to him. He admitted his part in the fraud. Later the same month Spier appeared before the Grand Jury, waived immunity, and admitted his complicity in the fraud. He implicated plaintiff as a party by testifying that he had paid plaintiff the sum of $20,000 to act as the go-between in effecting the loan. This sum was to be used in bribing the parties whose approval was necessary to effectuate the mortgage. Additionally,. plaintiff was to receive from Spier the sum of five to six thousand dollars for his services in greasing the necessary wheels.

In May, 1968 plaintiff conferred with a representative of the District Attorney’s office. He was shown a memorandum previously subpoenaed by the District Attorney and admitted that the writing was in his hand. He asserts that he refused to answer any further questions. However, there seems to be some dispute as to this.

On June 12, 1968 plaintiff was indicted by the Grand Jury on the charge of conspiracy to bribe labor officials. Pending trial of this matter, Spier, who had previously been indicted, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the first degree. . Rosen, who was facing disbarment charges, resigned from the Bar.

Plaintiff went to trial on the indictment against him on March 12, 1969. He did not testify at that trial. On March 27, 1969, after the entire case was in, plaintiff won a directed verdict of acquittal. Thereupon, while plaintiff was exiting from the courtroom, he was served with the subpoena which is here the subject of contention. A motion to quash, bottomed on the assertion [220]*220that plaintiff, a nonresident, was immune from service under the circumstances indicated, was denied at Special Term. The Appellate Division reversed and ordered a hearing (Matter of Lawlor v. Roberts, 33 A D 2d 542). Plaintiff then abandoned his technical objection and instituted suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the same relief involved in the instant action, and brought on a motion for a temporary injunction seeking the immediate relief now sought on this motion. In a brief discussion, Judge Oaít-WBLX.A denied the application, holding, among other things, that there was no allegation that plaintiff had exhausted all his State court remedies. Thereupon, the instant action was instituted.

Plaintiff asserts that compelling him to testify before the Grand Jury will violate his rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments (Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U. S. 1); and that the statutory exclusion of all except authorized persons from the Grand Jury room (Code Crim. Pro., §§ 255-259), including, necessarily, the plaintiff’s attorney, will violate his rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments in that it will deprive the plaintiff of his right to counsel (Gideon v. Wainright, 372 IT. S. 335).

I

Concededly, the reach of the Fifth Amendment covers compelled testimony before a Grand Jury (Hoffman v. United States, 341 U. S. 479; United States v. Monia, 317 U. S. 424; Blau v. United States, 340 U. S. 159; United States v. Wolfson, 405 F. 2d 779, cert. den. 394 U. S. 946). Plainly, however, the language of the amendment is concerned with a substantive offense already committed. It does not deal with an offense the perpetration of which may take place during the testimony before the Grand Jury (People v. Ianniello, 21 N Y 2d 418, cert. den. 393 U. S. 827; People v. Tomasello, 21 N Y 2d 143).

If plaintiff is questioned about the transactions before the Grand Jury he may invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. If, as indicated by the District Attorney, transactional immunity is conferred, the plaintiff will then be required to answer. When he does, he must answer truthfully, for such grant of immunity will not protect against perjury committed before the Grand Jury (People v. Tomasello, supra; United States v. Winter, 348 F. 2d 204, cert. den. 382 U. S. 955; United States v. Bufalino, 285 F. 2d 408). So long, however, as the grant of immunity is of sufficient breadth to protect the plaintiff from prosecution for any crimes disclosed by his testimony before the Grand Jury [221]*221in connection with the transaction in question, he may not be heard to assert that his Fifth Amendment rights have been infringed (Code Crim. Pro., § 619-c; Matter of Grand Jury [Cioffi], 8 N Y 2d 220).

II

The right to counsel in criminal proceedings has been firmly established by Gideon (supra). Indeed, it has been expanded to include investigatory phases where the defendant is a prime target (Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U. S. 478; People v. Gunner, 15 N Y 2d 227; People v. Donovan, 13 N Y 2d 148).

However, here the plaintiff does not appear to be the target of the investigation. Indeed, the District Attorney claims to seek his testimony for the purpose of ascertaining who received the $20,000 purportedly paid out in bribes. Thus, the plaintiff’s testimony is sought not for use against him but against others.

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Related

United States v. Monia
317 U.S. 424 (Supreme Court, 1943)
Blau v. United States
340 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Hoffman v. United States
341 U.S. 479 (Supreme Court, 1951)
Malloy v. Hogan
378 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Escobedo v. Illinois
378 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
United States v. Hyman Winter
348 F.2d 204 (Second Circuit, 1965)
Jim Garrison v. David L. Chandler
412 F.2d 857 (Fifth Circuit, 1969)
Chandler v. Garrison
286 F. Supp. 191 (E.D. Louisiana, 1968)
United States v. Bufalino
285 F.2d 408 (Second Circuit, 1960)
Winter v. United States
382 U.S. 955 (Supreme Court, 1965)
Ianniello v. New York
393 U.S. 827 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Wolfson v. United States
394 U.S. 946 (Supreme Court, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
62 Misc. 2d 218, 308 N.Y.S.2d 475, 1970 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1819, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawlor-v-roberts-nysupct-1970.