United States v. Potash, 71 Cr. 763.

• Decision Date: 08 October 1971
• Docket Number: No. 71 Cr. 763.,71 Cr. 763.
• Citation: 332 F. Supp. 730
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Theodore Jack POTASH and Robert J. Quigley, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

332 F. Supp. 730

UNITED STATES of America v. Theodore Jack POTASH and Robert J. Quigley, Defendants.

No. 71 Cr. 763.

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

October 8, 1971.

Whitney North Seymour, Jr., U.S. Atty., S. D. N. Y., New York City, for the United States; Walter M. Phillips, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., of counsel.

Otto G. Obermaier, New York City, for defendant Quigley.

Martin Stewart, Mineola, N. Y., for defendant Potash.

OPINION

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

The defendants, Ted Potash and Robert J. Quigley, are named in two counts of an indictment. The charges are (1) conspiracy to cause the transportation in foreign commerce of stolen securities having a value of more than $5,000, and (2) a substantive violation of 18 U.S.C. sections 2314 and 2, in causing the transportation in foreign commerce between Montreal and New York of such stolen securities, consisting of municipal bonds of the approximate value of $53,848.12. The indictment alleges that the conspirators included others to the grand jury "known and unknown." The government has served a bill of particulars naming John Gallagher Brown as a known conspirator.

Brown was indicted in December 1967 as the sole defendant charged with a violation of section 2314 of Title 18 with respect to the bonds specified in the instant indictment. After a trial to a jury, he was found guilty in April 1971. Thereafter, on July 13, 1971, the indictment against Potash and Quigley was returned.

The defendant Quigley moves to dismiss the indictment upon various grounds. First, he contends that his right against self-incrimination and to counsel under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments were violated when he was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury without being informed that he was a potential defendant. The government denies that Quigley was a potential defendant when he was subpoenaed; the prosecutor swears that the government had not then decided he would be a defendant, although he acknowledges Quigley's involvement with the securities was not althogether unknown to the government, in view of his testimony at Brown's trial, his statement to the FBI, and another to the government. The prosecutor asserts that the purpose in calling Quigley to testify before the grand jury was to ascertain the truth regarding the stolen bonds and the circumstances surrounding their attempted negotiation in Montreal and other places. Specifically, the prosecutor states it was not the government's intention to obtain a preview of Quigley's defense, nor to elicit testimony to be used for his cross-examination upon a trial.

Upon the papers here presented, there is no adequate support for the defendant's charge that he was deliberately subpoenaed in violation of his constitutional right not to "be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." The fact that an investigation discloses that one may have knowledge of the subject matter under inquiry does not preclude the prosecution from summoning him before the grand jury to testify as to matters under inquiry. And even if the inquiry should point in the direction of the witness so that he has become the target of inquiry, the prosecution is not foreclosed from calling him before the grand jury in "an effort to glean some small harvest of information from him, even though he may be suspected of being involved",¹ provided he is advised of his constitutional rights. Quigley was not only advised of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to counsel, but in addition, although not in custody and the Miranda rule was inapplicable in the circumstances of this case,² nonetheless he was given the substance of Miranda safeguards.³ Entirely apart from the fact he was fully advised of his constitutional rights, Quigley was not unaware of the thrust of the inquiry and that it centered about him, as well as others. He is a bank official with considerable experience; he is knowledgeable and a man of affairs.⁴ He was aware, when summoned to testify before the grand jury, that the scope of the inquiry would touch upon his role with respect to the bonds, as to which he had testified at Brown's trial as a defense witness. Having been fully and adequately advised of his right against self-incrimination and his right to consult counsel, and having been given the substance of the Miranda warnings, it was not additionally required as a matter of constitutional right that he be specifically advised he was the target of inquiry and that the grand jury might return an indictment against him.⁵ His appearance before the grand jury afforded him the opportunity to exonerate himself, and by his testimony he availed himself of that opportunity when he knew he was free to refuse to answer upon constitutional grounds. Having decided to tell his story, he cannot now complain of his failure to assert his privilege to remain silent;⁶ that the grand jury did not accept his version resulted in no impairment of his constitutional rights. So, too, having decided to proceed without counsel, after being advised of his right in this regard, he cannot now contend he was deprived of that right.

The next ground urged for dismissal is based upon defense counsel's belief that it is "the consistent practice in this District, and to have occurred in this case, that the attorney for the government who presented the case to the grand jury made ex parte, unsworn statements to the grand jury" which were not recorded. Counsel further postulates that since Quigley and Brown gave conflicting testimony before the grand jury, credibility was a major issue, and that "it is believed that some of these statements by the prosecutor concerned this issue" of credibility, and consequently such "statements may have rendered the grand jury biased either for the government or against the defendant." These allegations of "belief" as to what transpired in the grand jury proceeding are without evidential support, and a hearing is sought "to determine the nature of the statements made in order to insure that the procedures before the grand jury were proper."

To grant this motion for dismissal or for a hearing upon the speculative allegations referred to above would forge a new device for the delay of trials and open the flood gates of litigation. Instead of the defendant being brought to trial promptly, the prosecutor would be put on trial with respect to his presentation before the grand jury. Also, as noted by my colleague, Judge Frederick Van Pelt Bryan, when a similar motion was made, to grant it would "call into question the validity of large numbers of indictments pending"⁷ in this court. Since nothing of substance has been presented to impugn the presumption of the regularity of the grand jury proceedings, the motion is denied.

Finally, the defendant seeks dismissal of the conspiracy count under Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure upon the ground that it fails to state an offense. As first presented, this branch of the motion is based upon a contention that the indictment fails to allege the commission of an overt act by one of the named co-conspirators, an essential element of the crime of conspiracy as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 371. The indictment alleges the commission of two overt acts by John Gallagher Brown, who was not identified in the indictment as a co-conspirator. However, as already noted, the indictment alleges that in addition to Quigley and Potash, there were other conspirators, to the grand jury "known and unknown." Thus, the indictment, amplified by the bill of particulars, identifying Brown as one of the "known" conspirators, alleges the commission of an overt act by a conspirator, and sufficiently alleges the crime of conspiracy under section 371 of Title 18. It meets the criteria by which the sufficiency of an indictment is tested—it adequately apprises the defendants of the charges which will enable them to prepare their defense and to plead double jeopardy in the event of a subsequent prosecution.⁸

Since the original motion, the defendant has expanded it, contending that there is a "substantial possibility that there is insufficient evidence before the grand jury to support the charges made in the indictment." But the grand jury was only required to be satisfied that probable cause existed to believe the defendants committed the crime charged.⁹ The movant presses, however, that the government was required to establish that Brown, as a conspirator, knew that the bonds transported from New York to Montreal were stolen, and since, upon his trial and thereafter, he repeatedly denied he knew of their illicit nature, there was no basis upon which the grand jury could have found that he was a knowing participant in the conspiracy. But the grand jury was not required to accept his denials or exculpatory assertions, or, for that matter, those of Quigley.¹⁰ More important, Brown had acknowledged before the grand jury his conviction under section 2314 of Title 18, United States Code, an essential element of which was knowledge of the illicit nature of the transported bonds— the very bonds specified in the instant indictment. As to Brown, the judgment of conviction is conclusive on this issue, notwithstanding Brown's contradictory assertion.¹¹ Moreover, the court has read the grand jury minutes, and the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant the conspiracy charge and that Brown was a knowing participant therein.

The respective motions made by the defendant Quigley are denied.

The defendant Potash moves to dismiss the indictment on the ground that his right to a speedy trial as guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment was violated by pre-indictment delay.

The indictment against him was returned approximately three years and seven months after the commission of the alleged offenses charged in the indictment. As to this pre-indictment delay, the government asserts that the first knowledge it had that Potash...