Warren Wheeler v. United States No 658 Stillman Shaw v. United States No 659 Warren Wheeler v. Guy Murchie No 660 Stillman Shaw v. Guy Murchie, United States Marshall, Etc No 661 661
| Decision Date | 06 January 1913 |
| Docket Number | 659,Nos. 658,660,s. 658 |
| Citation | 33 S.Ct. 158,57 L.Ed. 309,226 U.S. 478 |
| Parties | WARREN B. WHEELER, Plff. in Err., v. UNITED STATES. NO 658. STILLMAN SHAW, Plff. in Err., v. UNITED STATES. NO 659. WARREN B. WHEELER, Appt., v. GUY MURCHIE, United States Marshal, NO 660. STILLMAN SHAW, Appt., v. GUY MURCHIE, UNITED STATES MARSHALL, ETC. NO 661. , and 661 |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Nathan Matthews, William G. Thompson, and Romney Spring for plaintiffs in error and appellants.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 478-481 intentionally omitted] Solicitor General Bullitt and Assistant Attorney General Harr for defendant in error and appellee.
These cases arise from the following facts: On April 12, 1912, the Federal grand jury in Boston was investigating whether Warren B. Wheeler and Stillman Shaw, plaintiffs in error in Nos. 658 and 659 and appellants in Nos. 660 and 661, had, by means of a certain corporation known as Wheeler & Shaw, Incorporated, or otherwise, violated § 215 of the act of Congress of March 4, 1909 (35 Stat. at L. 1088, 1130, chap. 321, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, pp. 1588, 1653), making it a crime to use the mails of the United States for a scheme to defraud, which crime is punishable by fine or imprisonment or both. On the same day a subpoena duces tecum, without ad testificandum clause, was issued, summoning the corporation to appear before the grand jury and produce all the cash books, ledgers, journals, and other books of account of the company, and all copies of letters and telegrams of Wheeler & Shaw, Incorporated, whether signed or purporting to be signed by the corporation or by its president or treasurer in its behalf, for and covering the period from October 1, 1909, to January 1, 1911; all the aforesaid books and copies of letters and telegrams to be produced before the grand jurors under the penalties of law. The subpoena was served on Wheeler as treasurer, and on Shaw as president, of the corporation. The appeared before the grand jury, without any of the books or correspondence, as required in the subpoena, however; asked to be sworn for the purpose of explaining why they had not brought them, and left with the grand jurors papers containing the following statement of their reasons for the nonproduction of the books, etc. (the records are the same, mutatis mutandis, in the Wheeler Case and the Shaw Case):
To the Grand Jurors of the District Court of the United States for the District of Massachusetts.
Gentlemen:—There was served upon me at 12:50 P. M. to-day, April 12, 1912, a subpoena addressed to Wheeler & Shaw, Inc. a corporation doing business at Boston, in said district, and calling upon that corporation to produce before you, presumably through me, 'all cash books, ledgers, journals, and other books of account of said Wheeler & Shaw, Inc., for and covering the period between October 1, 1909, and January 1, 1911, all copies of letters and telegrams of Wheeler & Shaw, Inc., signed or purporting to be signed by said Wheeler & Shaw, Inc., or by its president or its treasurer in behalf of said Wheeler & Shaw, Inc., during the months of October, November, and December, 1909, and the entire year of 1910; all the aforesaid books, copies ofletters, and telegrams to be produced before the grand jurors of said district court in the matter of an alleged violation of the laws of the United States by Warren B. Wheeler and Stillman Shaw.'
I desire to avail myself of what I understand to be my right to state to you my reasons for not producing any books, ledgers, or other papers or documents in response to said summons. My reasons are:
First: That I have not in my possession or custody any cash books, ledgers, journals, or any of the other books or things described in said subpoena which belong to Wheeler & Shaw, Inc., or are in my possession as an officer or agent of Wheeler & Shaw, Inc. The only cash books, ledgers, journals, and other books, papers, and things to which the aforesaid description in said subpoena could apply are the personal property of myself and Stillman Shaw, and are in our personal possession, and are not in the possession of either of us as officers or agents of any corporation.
Second: Even were the fact not as stated above, I am advised that the language of said subpoena quoted above is so broad, sweeping and lacking in particularity as to constitute a violation of the rights of any party to whom a subpoena is addressed to be exempt from unreasonable searches and seizures under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Third: Whether addressed to said corporation or to me personally, I am advised that said subpoena violates the rights secured to me by the 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States not to be a witness against myself in any criminal case.
I make this statement in good faith, and not intending any disrespect to the grand jury, or to the officers of the government, and I venture to remind the grand jury that I am entitled under the laws of the United States not to have any inferences drawn against me by reason of the action I have taken in this matter. It is one thing to pro- duce private books and papers in a proceeding where there is an opportunity to explain them and to examine and cross-examine witnesses concerning them; but the situation in an ex parte proceeding is so different that I feel sure the grand jury will feel that I am justified in standing upon any constitutional rights in this matter.
Warren B. Wheeler.
The grand jurors on April 13, 1912, filed in the district court a paper called a petition for attachment for contempt, in which they prayed that Wheeler and Shaw be ordered to produce the books and copies of letters and telegrams, and upon failure or refusal be adjudged guilty of contempt. Wheeler and Shaw appeared, filed motions to dismiss, which were denied, and then filed sworn answers. The cases were heard by the district judge on the grand jurors' petitions, the answers, and certain agreed facts. At the close of the hearing the court ruled that the case was governed by Wilson v. United States, 221 U. S. 361, 55 L. ed. 771, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 538, Ann. Cas. 1912 D, 508, and ordered Wheeler and Shaw to produce the books and papers described in the subpoena. Final orders were entered on April 18, 1912, adjudging them in contempt and committing them to the custody of the marshal until, by producing before the grand jury the books and copies of letters and telegrams, they should cease to obstruct and impede the corporation known as Wheeler & Shaw, Incorporated, from complying with the subpoena duces tecum, or otherwise purge themselves of their contempt.
From these judgments Wheeler and Shaw sued out writs of error, which constitute cases Nos. 658 and 659. They also filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus against the marshal, and from the orders denying the petitions they appealed to this court, and these cases constitute Nos. 660 and 661.
Upon the hearing the district judge made certain findings of fact, as follows:
'1. A subpoena, of which a copy, with a copy of the officer's return thereon is annexed to said petition, was served upon the defendant on the 12th day of April, A. D. 1912.
'2. The corporation...
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