United States v. DiGrazia

213 F. Supp. 232, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6838
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 25, 1963
Docket62 CR 16
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 232 (United States v. DiGrazia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. DiGrazia, 213 F. Supp. 232, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6838 (N.D. Ill. 1963).

Opinion

WILL, District Judge.

Defendants Rose and Medo Calzavara have moved to quash the indictment in the present cause as it relates to them. The motion is based on the alleged violation of certain asserted constitutional rights in connection with their separate appearances before a Federal Grand Jury in May, 1961.

At an oral hearing in this Court pursuant to the motion, testimony was taken of both Rose and Medo Calzavara and of the F.B.I. agents and Assistant U. S. Attorney Matthew M. Corry who participated in the investigation of the case and the presentment before the Grand Jury in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The record of this hearing as well as the opposing briefs, the affidavits of the Cal-zavaras and the transcript of Medo Cal-zavara’s Grand Jury appearance are now before the Court. They disclose the following relevant information.

Medo Calzavara was subpoenaed to appear before the Federal Grand Jury for the Eastern District of Wisconsin at Milwaukee on May 16, 1962, and did so appear and testify. The Grand Jury had been convened to consider charges arising under 18 U.S.C.A. § 2314 involving the alleged transportation in interstate commerce of certain stolen merchandise. Calzavara’s testimony there related to this matter, although he was not then a named defendant. He was subsequently indicted, however, and charged with violating and conspiring to violate the foregoing statute. Rose Calzavara was also subpoenaed to appear before that panel on May 16, but she was not actually called to testify until May 26. At that *233 time, acting on the advice of counsel, she repeatedly invoked her privilege against self-incrimination. She, too, was subsequently indicted and charged with violating and conspiring to violate 18 U.S. C.A. § 2314.

With respect to Medo Calzavara, at the time of his Grand Jury appearance he had not, as the Assistant U. S. Attorney knew, retained counsel. He was not advised of his right to consult counsel before testifying, nor was he advised either prior to or during that proceeding of his right not to answer any question which might tend to incriminate him or that anything he said might be used against him. 1 Accordingly, it is urged on his behalf that this failure to warn, at a time when he was allegedly earmarked as a “putative defendant”, is sufficient, by itself, to vitiate the ensuing indictment. For its part, the Government argues that no such warning was required since Calzavara was called to testify as its witness, not as a defendant or prospective defendant, citing United States v. Scully, 2 Cir. 1955, 225 F.2d 113, cert. denied 350 U.S. 897, 76 S.Ct. 156, 100 L.Ed. 788 (1955) and United States v. Parker, 7 Cir., 1957, 244 F.2d 943, cert. denied 355 U.S. 836, 78 S.Ct. 61, 2 L.Ed. 2d 48 (1957). The Government further contends that it was not until after his Grand Jury testimony that information was uncovered which sufficiently linked him with the matter under investigation to warrant the return of an indictment as to him.

In their arguments, both sides make much of the appropriate label to be placed on Medo Calzavara at the time of his appearance before the Grand Jury— witness, possible defendant, prospective defendant, putative defendant, named defendant — as though the proper characterization would somehow provide a convenient solution to the problem which the motion raises. This analysis, while it may contribute to the solution, appears to miss the mark. The real question, it seems to me, ought to be whether, in the absence of a warning, Medo Cal-zavara may have tended to incriminate himself by his testimony before the Grand Jury. If so, the indictment must be quashed, for it would violate the constitutional precept embodied in the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination, and all the Government’s most self-serving characterizations of Calzavara’s status could not save it in the face of this. Nor could it be saved by the subsequent discovery of independent information warranting his indictment.

This, of course, forces the Government to determine when a warning is appropriate. But, after all, it is not an unreasonable burden, especially since the U. S. Attorney or his assistant is in a good position to know what testimony can be expected. If the Government chooses to call a witness before the Grand Jury who is or may be a defendant, its own self-interest as well as a proper regard for constitutional due process would seem to dictate the issuance of a warning and the securing of an immunity waiver. The risk it runs in failing to warn is a quashed indictment. In order to avoid this contingency, the fair and wise practice would seem to call for a warning and the securing of an immunity waiver whenever it is even remotely possible that the testimony of a witness might tend to incriminate him. See United States v. Scully, supra.

Turning then to Calzavara’s Grand Jury appearance, it is clear from an examination of his testimony there that no direct incriminating statements of fact were made by him. He was treated *234 as a witness who had information of events about which the Government was desirous of apprising the Grand Jury, and the questions by the Assistant U. S. Attorney and Calzavara’s answers thereto followed this tack. It is apparent from the transcript that the Assistant U. S. Attorney did not get the kind of answers he wanted. Indeed, at the oral hearing in this Court, Calzavara stated that after his Grand Jury appearance “ * * * Mr. Corry got awful mad at me. He says, ‘How long did it take you to think up that cute story you told the Grand Jury?’ And I said, ‘Y/hat do you mean? Ask Mr. McCormick (F.B.I. agent) if that isn’t the truth.’ ”

While an examination of Medo Calzavara’s Grand Jury testimony reveals no direct incriminating statement, there is no way to know whether in fact his appearance was incriminating in the minds of some or all the members of the Grand Jury. Certainly on the record before me, I cannot say that his testimony might not have tended to incriminate him. The only portion of the Grand Jury proceedings for which a transcript is available is Calzavara’s testimony. What the U. S. Attorney or Assistant U. S. Attorney said to the Grand Jury subsequently concerning this testimony, what incriminating inferences they drew from it, how they characterized it as to truth or accuracy, etc. are all unknown.

Whether constitutional rights have been respected should not be the subject of speculation. Where, as here, there is doubt, the only proper action is to dismiss the indictment.

While the foregoing disposes of Medo Calzavara’s motion, there is inherent in this situation a broad general question which merits further consideration. In this particular case, a Grand Jury transcript is available only with respect to the testimony of one witness. I understand that the practice varies from district to district and even within districts, but that in many districts the usual procedure is not to make a stenographic record, much less to transcribe the testimony, of most witnesses before the Grand Jury.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Barnhart
563 S.E.2d 820 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2002)
United States v. Gillespie
773 F. Supp. 1154 (N.D. Indiana, 1991)
State v. Babayan
787 P.2d 805 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1990)
United States v. Evans
667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D. New York, 1987)
United States v. Nakashian
635 F. Supp. 761 (S.D. New York, 1986)
United States v. Waldbaum, Inc.
593 F. Supp. 967 (E.D. New York, 1984)
United States v. Dorfman
532 F. Supp. 1118 (N.D. Illinois, 1981)
United States v. Duff
529 F. Supp. 148 (N.D. Illinois, 1981)
United States v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., Inc.
518 F. Supp. 179 (C.D. California, 1981)
State v. Paulsen
286 N.W.2d 157 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1979)
United States v. Alfred Joseph Samango
607 F.2d 877 (Ninth Circuit, 1979)
United States v. Asdrubal-Herrera
470 F. Supp. 939 (N.D. Illinois, 1979)
United States v. Gold
470 F. Supp. 1336 (N.D. Illinois, 1979)
United States v. Samango
450 F. Supp. 1097 (D. Hawaii, 1978)
United States v. Mandujano
425 U.S. 564 (Supreme Court, 1976)
United States v. Robert Chevoor
526 F.2d 178 (First Circuit, 1976)
United States v. Mandel
415 F. Supp. 1033 (D. Maryland, 1976)
Robert Hawthorne, Inc. v. Director of Internal Revenue
406 F. Supp. 1098 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1976)
United States v. Abbott Laboratories
369 F. Supp. 1396 (E.D. North Carolina, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
213 F. Supp. 232, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-digrazia-ilnd-1963.