United States v. Farrington

• Decision Date: 01 January 1881
• Citation: 5 F. 343
• Parties: THE UNITED STATES v. FARRINGTON. SAME v. LEAKE. SAME v. RICHARDS.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

5 F. 343

THE UNITED STATES v. FARRINGTON.

SAME v. LEAKE.

SAME v. RICHARDS.

United States District Court, N.D. New York.

1881

WALLACE D.J.

The motions to quash these indictments may properly be considered together. The defendants are indicted severally for offences under section 5209 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. The defendants Leake and Farrington are charged with abstracting, embezzling, and misappropriating funds of the First National Bank of Saratoga, and making false entries on the books of the bank, they being officers of the bank. The defendant Richards is charged with similar offences as to the funds and books of the Commercial National Bank of Saratoga. The three cases were heard and considered at the same time by the grand jury. The indictments are voluminous, one containing 30 counts, one 22 counts, and one 17 counts. They were not prepared by the law officers of the government, but by an attorney who is presumed to represent creditors of the banks. This attorney instituted proceedings before a commissioner against two of the defendants, and an examination was pending, but not concluded, when he was permitted to present the cases to the grand jury. This attorney appeared as a witness before the grand jury with a number of the bank books, with various exhibits, originals, and copies, and read from these such selections as he chose. He also read to the grand jury the minutes of testimony taken by the commissioner, including the testimony of the defendant Leake, who was examined before the commissioner, compulsorily, as a witness against the defendant Farrington. His testimony was interspersed with comments upon the force and effect of the testimony, entries and exhibits, in the nature of an argument, which was, in the language of the district attorney, 'animated, spirited and excited.' All the cases were heard and considered together, and the grand jury were told that, unless indictments were then found, the offences would be barred by the statute of limitations. The district attorney advised the jury that the minutes of testimony taken before the commissioner were not competent evidence, and that the testimony of the defendant Leake was not admissible evidence against himself, because he was protected against it by statute. He was thereupon asked by the jury whether, if improper testimony was used to obtain an indictment, that would preclude the use of competent evidence upon the trial. The indictments were not read to the jury, or the substance of the various counts explained; but indictments were found as to all the persons implicated. No officer, stockholder, or employee, or depositor of the First National Bank, was a witness. The president of the Commercial National Bank was a witness, but no other person connected with that bank was produced. It is not claimed that he testified to any acts of embezzlement but he identified books and vouchers of his bank, and his testimony tended to show irregularities which might be imputed to the defendant Richards. If the case against Richards stood alone, it could not be said that, as to him there was not sufficient evidence to authorize an indictment.

This summary of the proceedings before the grand jury is sufficient to indicate that they were such as to seriously endanger, if not to preclude, an intelligent and fair consideration of the charges preferred against the accused. It is the duty of the court, in the control of its proceedings, to see to it that no person shall be subjected to the expense, vexation, and contumely of a trial for a criminal offence unless the charge has been investigated and a reasonable foundation shown for an indictment or information. It is due also to the government to require, before the trial of an accused person, a fair preliminary investigation of the charges against him. The cases are frequent when, after all these precautions have been observed, it appears upon the trial that the government has been subjected to discredit and expense which might have been avoided if there had been a more careful preliminary investigation.

Notwithstanding the reasons which exist for insisting upon a rigid adherence to this practice, in the interests of decorum, economy, and justice, it has been zealously maintained that so confidential and sacred should the proceedings of a grand jury be considered that every avenue should be closed which may lead to a scrutiny of their transactions. Accordingly ancient precedents have been enforced, and even extended, in modern cases, for the purpose of preventing any inquiry into the proceedings of the grand jury, and many authorities are cited to the effect that not only is it not permissible to show any irregularity or misconduct in their proceedings, by the testimony of any...