United States v. Mesarosh

13 F.R.D. 180, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3612
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 10, 1952
DocketCr. 13531
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 13 F.R.D. 180 (United States v. Mesarosh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Mesarosh, 13 F.R.D. 180, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3612 (W.D. Pa. 1952).

Opinion

STEWART, District Judge.

The six defendants in this case were indicted for conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States prohibited by the Smith Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2385. Two of the defendants are represented by counsel and four are not as yet. Motions have been filed by counsel on behalf of the particular defendants they represent, but as we stated at the time of the oral argument all motions have been considered as filed on behalf of all defendants to the extent appropriate. In all, twenty-two pre-trial motions have 'been filed and argued in this case. They fall into nine general categories. We shall discuss each category separately and reference will be made therein to the particular motions only where distinctions between the related motions require it.

I.

Two motions for a bill of particulars have been filed pursuant to Rule 7(f) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C. and together they seek 194 itemized particulars. Under this Rule and under many decisions, a motion of this nature is addressed to the discretion of the court, Wong Tai v. United States, 1927, 273 U.S. 77, 47 S.Ct. 300, 71 L.Ed. 545, recognizing, however, the proper purposes and scope of a bill of particulars. These have been summarized by Judge Hulbert of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in ruling on substantially similar motions in the case of United States v. Foster, S.D.N.Y.1948, 80 F.Supp. 479, as follows, at page 486:

“The purpose of a bill is to inform the accused of the nature of the charge with sufficient precision to enable him [183]*183to prepare for trial, to prevent surprise, and to plead his acquittal or conviction in bar of any prosecution for the same offense. Wong Tai v. U. S., supra. It is not the function of a bill to compel the Government to disclose in advance of the trial the evidence by which it will attempt to prove the charges alleged in the indictment.”

An examination of the demands here convinces us that these motions are- in the nature of fishing expeditions into the Government’s evidence; that they seek to limit the Government’s proof; and that they are not restricted to an inquiry into the charges contained in the indictment. Further, the indictment in this case contains sufficient particularity to enable the defendants adequately to- prepare for trial. Substantially identical motions were made and denied in the analogous cases of United States v. Fujimoto, D.C. Hawaii 1952, 102 F.Supp. 890; United States v. Flynn, D.C. S.D.N.Y.1951, 103 F.Supp. 925; United States v. Frankfeld, D.C.Md.1951, 101 F. Supp. 449; United States v. Foster, supra. The motions for a bill of particulars will be denied.

II.

Several motions seeking discovery have been filed. Defendants indicate that one of these motions is filed pursuant to Rules 16 and 17(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. However, it seems clear that, with respect to the discovery aspects of these motions, Rule 16 governs. Rule 17 is not a discovery rule but provides for the usual subpoena ad testificandum and duces tecum, which may be issued by the Clerk, with the provision that the court may direct that the materials designated in the subpoena duces tecum be produced at a specified time and place for inspection by defendant. Rule 16 provides a very limited discovery for the benefit of defendants where books, records or objects necessary to their defense are in the possession of the prosecution, and as pointed out by the Supreme Court of the United States in Bowman Dairy Co. v. United States, 1951, 341 U.S. 214, 71 S.Ct. 675, 95 L.Ed. 879 it was not intended to give a limited right of discovery by Rule 16 and then by Rule 17 to give a right of discovery in the broadest terms. Therefore, before a defendant is entitled to discovery, certain requirements, which are apparent from Rule 16, must be met, viz.:

(1) The evidence must consist of tangible objects, i. e., books, papers, documents, etc.

(2) These objects must belong to defendants or have been obtained from the defendants or from others by seizure or by process.1

(3) There must be a showing that the objects sought are material to the preparation of the defense.

(4) There must be a showing that the' request is reasonable.

Defendants have made no attempt to show that their request meets any of these requirements. Instead, as an examination of the motions will indicate, they seek to embark upon a broad fishing expedition without this requisite showing. For this reason, we will deny these motions insofar as they relate to discovery.

One of these motions asks the Court to grant an order directing the issuance of a pre-trial subpoena requiring the production of “all books, documents, papers, materials and objects which (a) have been presented to the Grand Jury, or (b) are to be offered as evidence on the trial, and (c) the names and addresses of all government witnesses who testified before the Grand Jury”. Defendants state they have filed this motion pursuant to Rules 16 and 17(c). As we have already pointed out, insofar as this motion seeks discovery under Rule 16, it must be denied. Further, we think that this motion must be denied in its entirety even though considered under Rule 17(c). Rule 17(c) is not a discovery rule. Its purpose is to shorten the trial and to make it possible to require the production before the trial [184]*184of documents subpoenaed for use at the trial. Bowman Dairy Co. v. United States, supra; United States v. Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Ass’n, D.C.D.C. 1949, 9 F.R.D. 509. Counsel for defendants rely on the decision in the Bowman case to support their motion. While it seems clear that the Bowman decision would support the granting of a pre-trial investigation of items (a) and (b) requested in the motion, if such motion represented a good faith effort to obtain evidence, it is equally clear that the matter is one resting in the sound discretion of the trial court as the language of the Rule itself indicates. United States v. Schiller, 2 Cir., 1951, 187 F.2d 572. This latter proposition is recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Bowman case. Furthermore, the decision in the Bowman case supports the granting of a pre-trial inspection only to the extent that a good faith effort is made to obtain evidence.

An examination of this motion in the light of the related moving papers leads to the conclusion that this does not represent a bona fide effort to obtain evidence to be used for defense, but, rather, is an attempt to learn the Government’s case under the guise of pre-trial inspection.

The defendants have no right to a list of names of the witnesses who appeared before the Grand Jury or of those who will appear at the trial on behalf of the Government. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

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

Related

State v. Bell
315 So. 2d 307 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1975)
United States v. Haywood
289 F. Supp. 479 (District of Columbia, 1968)
United States v. Margeson
259 F. Supp. 256 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1966)
United States v. Boyance
30 F.R.D. 146 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1962)
United States v. Dierker
164 F. Supp. 304 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1958)
United States v. Mirabal Carrion
140 F. Supp. 226 (D. Puerto Rico, 1956)
United States v. Hall
18 F.R.D. 384 (S.D. New York, 1956)
United States v. Peltz
18 F.R.D. 394 (S.D. New York, 1955)
United States v. Parr
17 F.R.D. 512 (S.D. Texas, 1955)
United States v. Silverman
129 F. Supp. 496 (D. Connecticut, 1955)
United States v. Schene
16 F.R.D. 514 (W.D. New York, 1955)
United States v. Schine
126 F. Supp. 464 (W.D. New York, 1954)
United States v. Skurla
126 F. Supp. 713 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1954)
United States v. Martel
17 F.R.D. 326 (N.D. New York, 1954)
United States v. Ward
120 F. Supp. 57 (S.D. New York, 1954)
United States v. Kuzma
141 F. Supp. 91 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1954)
United States v. Mesarosh
116 F. Supp. 345 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1953)
United States v. Ruse
112 F. Supp. 667 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1953)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 F.R.D. 180, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mesarosh-pawd-1952.