United States v. American Honda Motor Company

271 F. Supp. 979, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11529, 1967 Trade Cas. (CCH) 72,204
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 1, 1967
Docket40956
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 271 F. Supp. 979 (United States v. American Honda Motor Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. American Honda Motor Company, 271 F. Supp. 979, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11529, 1967 Trade Cas. (CCH) 72,204 (N.D. Cal. 1967).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

SWEIGERT, District Judge.

Defendant, American Honda Motor Company, Inc., (hereinafter Honda) a California corporation engaged in the distribution of Japanese-made Honda motorcycles throughout the United States, was indicted in this district on August 3, 1966, on a charge of violation of Section I of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, by conspiring with its co-defendants, independent San Francisco Bay Area Honda dealers, to fix, maintain and stabilize retail prices of Honda motorcycles, parts and accessories “in the San Francisco Bay Area”.

The case is before the Court on a motion by American Honda under Rules 12(b) (1) and 12(b) (4) Fed.R.Crim.P., to dismiss the indictment upon the grounds that it has been placed in double jeopardy and has been deprived of due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

The record shows that on June 10, 1966, defendant Honda was convicted for what it claims to be the same offense in the case of United States v. American Honda, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Case No. 35909, in which indictment was returned March 15, 1966, and a plea of nolo contendere taken March 30, 1966, and a fine of $10,000 imposed on June 10, 1966.

Further, the record shows that on September 12, 1966, defendant Honda was similarly'indicted for what it claims to be the same offense in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Case No. 66 CR 574, in which the indictment is still pending on motion to dismiss upon the same grounds as urged here.

Further, the record shows that on November 22, 1966, defendant Honda was similarly indicted in the Southern District of Ohio in which case the defendants have been arraigned with the case still pending.

The record also shows that subpoenas to produce voluminous records were directed to American Honda, not only in Los Angeles (May, 1965) but also in San Francisco (March, 1966), Ohio (April and June, 1966) and in Illinois (May, 1966).

The indictment upon which American Honda was convicted in the Los Angeles case is substantially the same as the indictment in the pending San Francisco case except (1) different alleged co-conspirators in the Greater Los Angeles Area are named; (2) different dates of commencement of the conspiracy are alleged, and (3) the Los Angeles conspiracy was alleged to have been to fix, maintain and stabilize retail prices of Honda motorcycles, parts and accessories sold “in the Greater Los Angeles Area”.

The Illinois and Ohio indictments are substantially similar to the Los Angeles and San Francisco indictments except: (1) different alleged co-conspirators are *981 named; (2) different dates of commencement are alleged, and (3) similar conspiracies for a similar purpose concerning the same products are alleged to have been “in the Chicago Area” and “in the State of Ohio”, respectively.

Defendant, American Honda, contends that the indictment here (and the pending indictments in Illinois and Ohio) have placed it in double jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

The basic question raised by this contention is whether the conspiracy charged in the pending indictment is part of a single nationwide conspiracy (for which American Honda has already been convicted and punished in the Los Angeles case and for which it stands presently indicted in the Illinois and Ohio cases) or is a separate conspiracy entered into by defendant Honda with its co-defendants herein.

Defendant Honda makes the further contention that, apart from the issue of double jeopardy, these successive prosecutions are in effect such harassment as deprives defendant of due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment — a contention which we will later and separately consider.

In support of its contentions, defendant has filed affidavits of Okumoto and McCormick (filed 10/3/66), affidavits of McCormick [2d], Cullwell, Okumoto [2d], Westcott and Short (filed 11/7/66), affidavits of Kawashian, Reeves, Roland and Short [2d] (filed 1/10/67), an affidavit of Tatum (filed 3/7/67).

In opposition the government has filed affidavits of Spivok and Duvall (filed 12/12/66).

A hearing was held on January 16th at which defendant presented brief oral testimony of two witnesses concerning certain aspects of the case. Both sides have indicated that they have no further evidence to present and the motion stands submitted.

PROCEDURAL ASPECTS

Concerning procedural aspects of the pending motion, we note there is no special plea by which these defenses can be raised. The only pleas allowed under our procedure are “not guilty, guilty and nolo contendere”. All other pleas, demurrers and motions to quash are abolished. Defenses and objections raised before trial, which heretofore could have been raised by any one or more of them, must be raised only by motion to dismiss or to grant appropriate relief as provided in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. (See Rules 11— 12).

Rule 12(b) provides that any defense or objection which is capable of determination without the trial of the general issue may be raised before trial by motion and, further, that issues of fact on such motions shall be determined by the Court with or without a jury or on affidavits or in such other manner as the Court may direct unless jury trial is required under the Constitution or by an Act of Congress.

In Arnold v. United States, 336 F.2d 347, 351 (9th Cir. 1964), the parties had stipulated that an issue of double jeopardy be tried by the trial Court at the conclusion of a jury trial on the main issues. The Court of Appeals for this Circuit, following Short v. United States, 91 F.2d 614, 112 A.L.R. 969 (4th Cir. 1937) (decided before promulgation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on December 24, 1944), stated that “where it may not be said that a plea of former jeopardy either does or does not lie as a matter of law from a comparison of the two indictments, then the issue should be submitted to the jury under appropriate instructions.” The Court agreed, however, that upon trial of the issue the record of both proceedings may be referred to and findings and conclusions in conjunction with the two indictments based thereon. In that case the Court did not expressly exclude the use of other relevant evidence — such as might be supplied by affidavits as now provided by Rule 12(b). The Court of Appeals merely held that it did not appear from an analysis of the record of both proceedings that one large conspiracy had been split into two small ones *982 and that the Court below had not erred in finding that the offenses were not identical in law and were in fact separate in distinct conspiracies.

In United States v. Koontz, 232 F.Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
271 F. Supp. 979, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11529, 1967 Trade Cas. (CCH) 72,204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-american-honda-motor-company-cand-1967.