United States v. Ford Motor Co.

24 F.R.D. 65, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4043
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedApril 30, 1959
DocketCr. No. 807
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 24 F.R.D. 65 (United States v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ford Motor Co., 24 F.R.D. 65, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4043 (D.C. Cir. 1959).

Opinion

TAMM, District Judge.

The indictment returned in this case on September 3, 1958, named this defendant and seventeen others with having violated Section 3 of Title 15 United States Code, this section being a portion of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. All other defendants have previously entered pleas of nolo contendere and are now out of this case as defendants but remain as co-conspirators.

The defendant Ford Motor Company has filed a motion for a bill of particulars pursuant to Rule 7(f), (Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A.) relat[67]*67Ing to Count Three of the indictment in this case, this defendant having been named in Count Three only. Its requests for particulars, of which there are seven, may be classified under four main groups; namely, particulars as to the formation of the alleged conspiracy, particulars as to the entrance of this defendant into the alleged conspiracy, the means and methods employed by this defendant in carrying out the alleged conspiracy, and the period of time in which this defendant allegedly continued in the conspiracy.

The Government, in its opposition to the foregoing motion, states: (1) that all requests should be denied because they call for a disclosure of evidentiary material; (2) that requests 1, la, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7a and 7b should be denied for these are matters which are peculiarly or equally within the knowledge of the defendant or which it has equal opportunity to discover; (3) that the information sought by requests 3, 4, 5, and 7a are, in effect, requests asking for particulars of overt acts in pursuance of the conspiracy and that the Government should not be required to furnish these, and (4) that the information sought by requests 7, 7a and 7b may be obtained from a reading of the indictment itself.

Request 1 of the defendant is as follows :

“(1) Specify the nature of the agreement or conspiracy alleged in Count Three, i. e., whether express or implied, oral or written.
“(a) If express, specify the time, place and circumstances of the formation of the alleged agreement and the names of all persons who are claimed to have joined in its formation.
“(b) If implied, specify each act allegedly performed by any defendant, including the names of all persons alleged to have performed such act, from which the formation or existence of the alleged agreement is inferred or implied.
“(c) To the extent written, identify all documents alleged to embody or set forth the terms of the alleged agreement, specifying the dates and parties to all such documents.
“(d) To the extent oral, specify the time, place and names of persons participating in each conversation through which the alleged agreement is claimed to have been formed and the substance of what was said.”

The defendant has cited authority for the proposition that it has the right to know the nature of the act complained of (United States v. Balaban, D.C., 26 F.Supp. 491; United States v. Allegheny County Retail Druggists Ass’n, D.C., 12 F.R.D. 249; United States v. MacLeod Bureau, D.C., 6 F.R.D. 590), that is, whether it was express or implied, oral or written. It would seem to be fair and consistent with the purpose of a bill of particulars that the defendant be informed of the nature of the offense. The Government could disclose this without revealing any of its evidentiary material. Of course, it does not follow that requests 1(a) through 1(d) should be granted, as this would be a disclosure of the evidence upon which the Government intends to rely. The defendant does have some authority that evidentiary material may be disclosed when justice necessitates it, United States v. Balaban, D.C., 26 F.Supp. 491, but this Court does not believe that justice necessitates the disclosure of evidence in this case, and such disclosure would follow if requests 1(a) through 1 (d) were granted.

Finally, once the defendant is made aware of the nature of the offense, it would seem that such other particulars as it desires would be matters which it has in its own knowledge, or to which it has access.

Request number 2 asks for, “the time, place and the names of the officers, or employees through whom it is claimed that defendant Ford Motor Company entered into the alleged agreement or conspiracy. State the names of all other [68]*68persons who were present at such time and place.”

The Government has pointed out, quite correctly, that this alleged conspiracy— both in the number of parties comprising it and area size—is small, by comparison, to many of the factual situations revealed in the cases cited by the defendant where such information was divulged. This case, however, is not a situation that deals with branches of corporations that are spread throughout the country or even over a few states. In such a situation as the latter, it could possibly be understood that there could be a need or showing for names, times and places in order to apprise the defendants of what they should know. The belief of the Court in this case is best expressed by the following:

“A corporation can act only through its officers and agents, and appellant company at all times knew the names of its officers, agents, and employees. It also knew the scope of the authority of each of such persons. The names and various acts of such persons were peculiarly within the knowledge of appellant company. The trial court did not abuse its discretion, and the motion for a bill of particulars was properly overruled.” Zito v. United States, 7 Cir., 64 F.2d 772-778.

Request number 3 is directed to paragraphs 30(b) and 30(e) of the indictment. Paragraph 30 of the indictment states the substantial terms of the combination and conspiracy, parts (b) and (e) thereof being two of the terms. Part (b) is: “To sell Ford parts and accessories to purchasers classified by defendant Ford dealers as authorized wholesale purchasers at the suggested wholesale list prices established by the Ford Motor Company.” Part (e) is: “To utilize a Ford Parts Identification Card Program for the purpose of insuring that only persons classified as authorized wholesale purchasers would be permitted to purchase parts at the suggested wholesale list prices established by the Ford Motor Company.”

In connection with these two sub-paragraphs, the defendant desires to know:

“The time, place and nature of each act allegedly performed by the Ford Motor Company, including the names of officers and employees through whom it is alleged to have acted, in connection with the alleged classification of purchasers of parts and accessories from defendant dealers and the alleged utilization of a Ford Parts Identification Card Program in this regard."

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
24 F.R.D. 65, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4043, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ford-motor-co-cadc-1959.