In re Adams, 76-368.

• Decision Date: 04 November 1976
• Docket Number: No. 76-368.,76-368.
• Citation: 421 F. Supp. 1027
• Parties: In re Dennis ADAMS, Individually and in his capacity as a representative of American Motors Corporation, and American Motors Corporation.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

421 F. Supp. 1027

In re Dennis ADAMS, Individually and in his capacity as a representative of American Motors Corporation, and American Motors Corporation.

No. 76-368.

United States District Court, E. D. Michigan, S. D.

November 4, 1976.

Asst. U.S. Atty. John P. Conley, Detroit, Mich., for plaintiff.

W. Robert Chandler, Cross, Wrock, Miller & Vieson, Detroit, Mich., for Adams.

John M. Sheridan, Detroit, Mich., for American Motors Corp.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOINER, District Judge.

This case involves the following question: Does the court have the power to punish by criminal contempt of court a person for threatening to discharge a juror from employment because of jury service?

After oral and written notice specifying the charges and service on the defendants of an order to show cause why the defendants should not be held in contempt, a hearing was held at which time the court heard the testimony of all persons having knowledge of the matters involved. The court makes the following findings and conclusions.

Background.

On July 22, 1976, John E. Mayer was notified of his obligation to serve as a juror in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, sitting in Detroit for the month of August. On August 16, Mr. Mayer was chosen to serve on a jury hearing criminal charges against a Marcellette Reynolds. Evidence was taken from day to day until a verdict was reached August 20.

Mr. Mayer held an official position involved in international sales with American Motors Corporation (AMC). His immediate superior was Dennis Adams. Both men held management positions with American Motors involving the pricing and sales of AMC products. August was a busy time for both men and their staffs as a result of the introduction and pricing of AMC automobiles. Mayer had his work in hand and believed the company would not be adversely affected by his absence for jury duty during the month of August. Problems arose over the pricing data supplied by Mayer, and Adams could not put the necessary information before other AMC personnel because of having to have some of Mayer's work redone.

After Mayer was sworn in as a juror on August 16, Adams informed Mayer of the problems with his data pertaining to the pricing of the AMC vehicles. Mayer indicated that because of the court's schedule he could be back in his office on the 17th by 2:00 p. m. in order to help out. Adams was not satisfied and directed Mayer to get the names of persons who could excuse him from jury service and said in effect, "If I don't have the names on my desk before tomorrow morning, you don't have to worry about coming back to work." The discussion was heated. The threat was explicit. Mayer felt threatened at first but later realized that his tenure at the company protected him from efforts on the part of Adams to discharge him. Adams testified that he did not intend the words used to be a threat of firing. Mayer gave Adams the names of persons to call and reported for jury service on the 17th and informed the jury clerk of the conversation with Adams.

Before court started on the morning of the 17th, Adams called the jury clerk for the purpose of obtaining the release of Mayer from jury service. He was told that Mayer was serving on a case and that he could not be excused. Adams made threats to two jury clerks with whom he was talking. One testified that he said, "He might not have a job to come back to." The other, although he could not remember the exact words, said that Adams told him that Mayer's job was on the line if he were not released from jury duty. Although the conversation started calmly, both jury clerks testified they felt that Adams was making a serious threat in an official capacity as Mayer's superior with AMC. These threats were referred to the court clerk and to the judge prior to the beginning of the day's proceedings. Mayer continued to serve and a verdict was reached.

The relevant portion of section 401 of Title 18, United States Code, reads as follows: "A court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as — (1) Misbehavior of any person in its presence or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice; . . .."

The power provided by this section is limited and a person may not be held in contempt under this provision unless the act done meets the requirement of the section. Nye v. United States, 313 U.S. 33, 61 S.Ct. 810, 85 L.Ed. 1172 (1941). In that case, Justice Douglas pointed out that the substance of this act was enacted in 1831 to limit the power of courts to issue contempt citations, which, before that time, had been issued pursuant to a broader statute.

The requirements of the section are three:

1. A misbehavior of such a nature so as to obstruct the administration of justice.

2. The misbehavior must occur in the presence of the court or so near to the court so as to obstruct the administration of justice.

3. Because the contempt is in the nature of a criminal act, some intent is required.

Were the Acts of Adams a Misbehavior of a Nature to Obstruct the Administration of Justice?

Persons selected as jurors become very special people. They as a group make up the most important single part of a court hearing a jury case. All other parts of the court in a criminal case are organized to provide assistance to the jury. Counsel marshal the evidence and articulate the reasons and grounds for jury action. The witnesses relate facts to be used by the jury in deciding the case. The reporter keeps the record; the bailiff keeps order. The judge manages the trial to make certain that an atmosphere of fairness prevails, that the trial runs smoothly and efficiently and that the rules of evidence and law are fairly applied. He also indicates to the jurors the rules of law by which they are to decide the case. The jurors, however, have the final power. They evaluate the witnesses and the evidence and the arguments of counsel. They decide the facts and apply the law to the facts in order to reach a conclusion. It is the jury on which society relies to deliberate so as to expose and neutralize the biases that each person has and to reach a verdict as free from bias as possible. Mr. Mayer was one of these persons.

Each juror is instructed over and over again during the trial about the need to protect the decisional process. The juror is cautioned about the need to decide the case based upon the facts produced in the courtroom and the law given by the judge; and therefore in order to protect that process the juror should not talk with anyone about the case or allow anyone to talk with him or her about the case. He or she should not stay in the presence of anyone talking about the case, and should not read anything, watch anything, or listen to anything that has any bearing on the case. This explanation is always put in context with the fact that jury service and the decisions made by jurors are the most important part of a lawsuit.

The courts expect a lot of jurors. They are not professionals but amateurs, brought out of the security of their homes and their jobs and placed in a position that is strange to them, in an environment that is at once austere, forbidding and at times frightening. It is not always possible to give them information as to why certain things are happening because of the need to protect the decisional process. Jurors are to be forever thanked for their willingness to serve in this most important aspect of judicial administration. Judges and lawyers must make certain that jurors are protected.

The protection of jurors from outside influences and efforts to bribe them or otherwise directly affect their decision-making is only one type of protection that courts must provide jurors. The courts need a fair cross section of jurors to provide panels that can bring to the process of deliberation the variety of viewpoints that has historically brought justice to the Anglo-American system of justice. Therefore, it is necessary as well to protect jurors from threats to their well-being which would tend to deny the courts this necessary cross section of jurors.

Threats to discharge a juror because of his jury service are contemptuous. Such conduct can be as bad as attempts to fix a jury. A jury cannot be expected to listen in the relaxed, attentive manner required to absorb the evidence presented and to discriminate among that evidence, nor to take the time to deliberate and argue in a rational way to reach a unanimous verdict if the members of the jury are worried about the security of their employment positions as a result of threats made by their employers involving jury service. The statements made by Adams were of a kind that were immediately threatening to Mayer and tended to obstruct the administration of justice.

Were the Acts in the Presence of the Court or so near to the Court so as to Obstruct the Administration of Justice?

The relevant portion of section 401(1) limits the contempt power to contempts that are geographically near the court. Nye v. United States, supra. It it not enough that the administration of justice is affected. The acts must be in or near to the presence (geographical) of the court. Other acts not in or near the presence of the court are left to the control of ordinary criminal law.

The acts of Adams were in the presence of the court or so near to the court to obstruct the administration of justice for two reasons:

1. His statement to the juror Mayer, in his presence, about his jury service was in the presence of a part of the court.

2. His statement to the jury clerk about a juror was near the court.

Statement to the Juror.

For...