William Ensign v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania No 123 Charles Ensign v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania No 124

• Decision Date: 24 February 1913
• Docket Number: Nos. 123 and 124,s. 123 and 124
• Citation: 33 S.Ct. 321,57 L.Ed. 658,227 U.S. 592
• Parties: WILLIAM A. ENSIGN, Piff. in Err., v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA. NO 123. CHARLES A. ENSIGN, Piff. in Err., v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA. NO 124
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

227 U.S. 592

33 S.Ct. 321

57 L.Ed. 658

WILLIAM A. ENSIGN, Piff. in Err.,

v COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA.

NO 123.

CHARLES A. ENSIGN, Piff. in Err.,

v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA.

NO 124.

Nos. 123 and 124.

Argued January 20, 1913.

Decided February 24, 1913.

Messrs. John b. Brooks and Charles H. English for plaintiffs in error.

Messrs. W. Pitt Gifford, J. Orin Wait, and U. P. Rossiter for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 593-596 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Pitney delivered the opinion of the court:

There are two writs of error, but a single record. The plaintiffs in error were jointly indicted in the court of quarter sessions of Erie county, Pennsylvania, under an act of May 9, 1889 (P. L. 1889, p. 145), 'relating to the receiving of deposits by insolvent bankers, etc., defining the offense, and providing a punishment therefor.' It appears that they were engaged together in business as private bankers in the borough of North East, Pennsylvania, for a long time prior to February 12, 1908; that on that day they received from the prosecuting witness a deposit of $1,000; that on the 15th of February they closed their banking house, and on the 17th made an assignment for the benefit of their creditors; that they were shortly thereafter thrown into involuntary bankruptcy, and schedules were filed by them in the bankruptcy proceeding. The receipt of the deposit of February 12th was made the basisof the indictment.

Upon the trial, the commonwealth offered in evidence, and the court admitted, against the objection of the defendants, the schedules filed by them in the bankruptcy proceeding, and the testimony of an expert accountant, based upon an examination of their banking books, which they had turned over to the trustee. The trial court, and, on successive appeals, the superior court and the supreme court of Pennsylvania (40 Pa. Super. Ct. 157, 163; 228 Pa. 400, 77 Atl. 657), overruled the contentions of the plaintiffs in error that their rights under the Constitution and laws of the United States were infringed by the admission of the evidence referred to, and so they bring the case here.

Article 5 of Amendments to the Federal Constitution is invoked, which provides (inter alia)—'No person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.' But, as has been often reiterated, this amendment is not obligatory upon the governments of the several states or their judicial establishments, and regulates the procedure of the Federal courts only. Barron v. Baltimore, 7 Pet. 243, 8 L. ed. 672; Spies v. Illinois, 123 U. S. 131, 166, 31 L. ed. 80, 86, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 21, 22; Brown v. New Jersey, 175 U. S. 172, 44 L. ed. 119, 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 77; Barrington v. Missouri, 205 U. S. 493, 51 L. ed. 890, 27 Sup. Ct. Rep. 582; Twining v. New Jersey, 211 U. S. 78, 93, 53 L. ed. 97, 103, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 14.

We are referred to a similar prohibition in art. I., § 9, of the Constitution of Pennsylvania; but, even if the trial of the plaintiffs in error proceeded in disregard of this provision, no Federal right was thereby infringed.

The only debatable question is that which is based upon the provisions of § 7 of the Federal bankruptcy act of July 1, 1898 (chap. 541, § 7; 30 Stat. at L. 544, 548, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, pp. 3418, 3424), which reads as follows:

'Duties of bankrupts.—a. The bankrupt shall (1) attend the first meeting of his creditors, if directed by the court or a judge thereof to do so, and the hearing upon his application for a discharge, if filed; (2) comply with all lawful orders of the court; (3) examine the correctness of all proofs of claims filed against his estate; (4) execute and deliver such papers as shall be ordered by the court; (5) execute to his trustee transfers of all his property in foreign countries; (6) immediately inform his trustee of any attempt, by his creditors or other persons, to evade the provisions of this act, coming to his knowledge; (7) in case of any person having to his knowledge proved a false claim against his estate, disclose that fact immediately to his trustee; (8) prepare, make oath to, and file in the court within ten days unless further time is granted, after the adjudication, if any involuntary bankrupt, and with the petition, if a voluntary bankrupt, a schedule of his property, showing the amount and kind of property, the location thereof, its money value in detail, and a list of his creditors, showing their residences, if known; if unknown, that fact to be stated, the amounts due each of them, the consideration thereof, the security held by them, if any, and a claim for such exemptions as he may be entitled to, all in triplicate, one copy of each for the clerk, one for the referee, and one for the trustee; and (9) when present at the first meeting of his creditors, and at such other times as the court shall order, submit to an examination concerning the conducting of his business, the cause of his bankruptcy, his dealings with his creditors and other...