West v. United States
West v. United States
Opinion of the Court
Appellants were indicted for conspiracy to unlawfully make, use, and file, and cause to be made, used, and filed, false affidavits of “Non-Communist Union Officer” with the National Labor Relations Board, knowing that the statements made therein that affiants were not members of, or affiliated with, the Communist party, were false, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 1001, and Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 371. On a trial before a jury, each appellant was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of ?2,500.00 and imprisonment for eighteen months.
In three separate appeals, there are presented, in the briefs of appellants, under the rules of this court, a Statement of Questions Involved, which aggregate 35 questions. Many of these questions, in one appeal, are the same as those in the other appeals. In brief, appellants’ contentions may be summed up as follows: that the evidence as to each appellant’s knowledge of, and participation in, the charged conspiracy, was insufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty; that the court committed error in the admission of evidence against appellants; that the comment of the trial judge concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports of a government witness resulted in prejudicial error; that the comments of the district attorney during the trial, and his closing summation constituted reversible error; that the District Court committed errors in its instructions to the jury, (1) on the issue of the credibility of witnesses, (2) on the elements required to establish membership in the Communist party, and (3) in failing to instruct that two witnesses were necessary to prove perjury under Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 1001; that the trial court erred in refusing to order the production of the notes of a government attorney; that appellants did not receive all of the reports of a government witness, which were required to be produced under Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 3500; that the-trial court improperly excised statements of government witnesses, which were-produced upon the request of appellants; that the court erred in denying a new trial because of newly discovered evidence as to the credibility of a government witness, and on the ground that the government had used perjured evidence- and suppressed impeaching evidence; that error was committed by the trial' court during the hearing for a new trial, because it denied appellants access to every document which related to a certain government witness; and that the statutes under which appellants were indicted violated their rights under the-First and Fifth Amendments.
The indictment arose out of statutory changes in the National Labor Relations Act, wrought by Section 9 (h) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947.'
“There can be no doubt that those gentlemen, the leaders of opportunism, will resort to every trick of bourgeois diplomacy, to the aid of bourgeois government, the priests, the police and the courts, to prevent Communists joining the trade union, to force them out by every means, to make their work in the trade unions as unpleasant as possible, to insult, bait and persecute them. We must be able to withstand all this, to agree to any sacrifice, and even— if need be — to resort to all sorts of stratagems, artifices, illegal methods, to evasions and subterfuges, only so as to get into the trade unions, to remain in them, and to carry on Communist work within them at all costs.”
Hall further declared that if they had to go through the “formalities of the law,” they would do it, and that “this meant that in some cases, some of our people would have to submit resignations and sign Taft-Hartley affidavits.” Later at a conference of members of the Party, he again explained the new policy which would allow members to sign the required affidavits and thereby permit their unions to comply with the law. Subsequently in a meeting with a functionary of the Party, who thereafter became an informant for the government, Hall discussed the problem of a member of the Party who had been elected as an officer of a union, and was, therefore, faced with the question of compliance with the law. He stated that in similar cases, such persons would submit their resignations from the Party, which would keep them on file to protect the person, who could then proceed to comply with the Act; that the person who signed such Non-Cornmunist affidavit should be instructed not to attend public meetings ; and that the Party organizers would see that they got “contributions,”
All of the appellants were devoted members of the Communist party, and held positions and offices of responsibility. The issue was whether they conspired to violate the Act, in making, using, and filing, and causing to be made, used, and filed false affidavits of “NónCommunist Union Officer,” knowing that the statements made therein, that affiants were not members of, or affiliated with the Communist party, were false and in violation of the Taft-Hartley Act and the conspiracy statute.
Appellants Marie Haug and Fred Haug signed Non-Communist affidavits. They were charged as members of the conspiracy with Sam Reed, Hyman Lumer, Andrew Remes, Eric Reinthaler, and James West. The factual issue was whether there was substantial evidence to sustain the charge of conspiracy. The government’s case on the factual issue rested upon testimony of witnesses who had joined the Communist party at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other witnesses who had been important functionaries of the Party, and who had left the Party, and thereafter became informants for the government. There was substantial evidence to sustain the verdict of the jury that appellants were guilty of conspiracy.
On a motion for judgment notwithstanding verdict, and for a new trial, submitted by appellants Marie Haug and Fred Haug, and apparently adopted by the other appellants, insofar as applicable to them, it is claimed that the evidence failed to establish: the existence of the conspiracy, or that appellants were members of or parties to the conspiracy; that they were members of, or affiliated with the Communist party at the time they signed the affidavits; that they knew and affirmatively acted in pursuance of the alleged conspiracy with the specific intent to achieve its object; that they knew or believed they were members of the Communist party at the time they signed the affidavits; that they signed them with criminal intent, or knowingly used or caused the affidavits to be used for the purpose of fraudulently securing any benefit or service through the National Labor Relations Board; that they caused them to be filed with the Board; and that the affidavits were related to a. matter within the jurisdiction of this. Board. It is further claimed by appellants that the meetings, statements, and1 activities concerning which evidence was. produced, were of an innocent character and protected by the First Amendment; that the evidence was not of the nature-to exclude every other hypothesis save-that of guilt; that it was insufficient to justify a conviction because lacking two independent witnesses — or a witness and corroborating circumstances; that the court erred in denying appellants’ motion for acquittal; that the verdict was contrary to the evidence, and not sustained by it; that there was error in the admissibility of evidence; that the court erred, in its comment as to certain exhibits; that the court improperly excised certain matters from documents in reports of government witnesses; and that the-comment and argument of government, counsel in summation to the jury was-prejudicial.
After a hearing of oral argument on. the foregoing motion, and after considering the briefs submitted by the appellants and the government, the District. Court, in a comprehensive opinion extending through twelve printed pages of the record, denied the motion.
After a hearing on these motions, in which seventeen witnesses were heard and many exhibits introduced, and which extended through 350 printed pages, the District Court overruled all motions in a detailed comprehensive opinion that extends through nineteen pages of the record, reported in United States v. West, 170 F.Supp. 200.
In Patrol Valve Co. v. Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Co., 6 Cir., 210 F.2d 146, 147, we said: “It is not the policy or practice of this court, in reviewing cases on appeal where a district court has rendered a comprehensive opinion with which we find ourselves in full agreement, to rewrite such an opinion and, in a sense, to deprive the trial court of the credit of its careful consideration of the issues and arguments, and complete determination of the cause * * With the extensive and comprehensive opinion of the District Court in this case, in denying the motion for judgment of acquittal, for new trial, and in arrest of judgment, as well as its similarly comprehensive opinion overruling the motions under Rule 33 and the petitions under Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255, we find ourselves in full agreement.
The District Court in its opinion carefully reviewed the evidence as to the various appellants, and the issues of law. We are of the view that there was substantial evidence to sustain the verdict of the jury, and that there was no error in the law as applied by the trial court.
As to appellants’ contentions that the statutes under which they were indicted violated their constitutional rights under the First and Fifth Amendments, it was held in American Communications Ass’n v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 70 S.Ct. 674, 94 L.Ed. 925, that Section 159(h) of the Taft-Hartley Act is constitutional, as a reasonable provision to prevent Communist control of, and infiltration into the labor movement as part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government. The sole sanction for the filing of a false affidavit under the Act is the criminal penalty imposed on the union officer who files a false affidavit. Leedom v. International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, 352 U.S. 145, 77 S.Ct. 154, 1 L.Ed.2d 201. Convictions for filing false Non-Communist affidavits by union officers have been affirmed in Lohman v. United States, 6 Cir., 266 F.2d 3, and Hupman v. United States, 6 Cir., 219 F.2d 243; and conspiracies to file false reports fall within Title 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 371 and 1001, the statutory provisions under which appellants in the instant case were indicted; Ebeling v. United States, 8 Cir., 248 F.2d 429. There was no infringement of appellants’ rights under the First and Fifth Amendments.
With regard to appellant’s claim that the trial court improperly excised parts of official reports by government agents relating to witnesses, or the statements of witnesses to such agents, we have examined the reports and excisions to determine the correctness of the rulings of the Court under Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 3500, subsection (c). Defense counsel, after the direct examination of the first government witness, requested production of any statements which the witness had made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thereupon the District Attorney produced for the defense the statement signed by the witness, and produced for in camera inspection by the trial judge,
We have examined the reports and the portions excised by the trial judge, and find his rulings correct and in accordance with Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 3500, subsection (c). Procedure under this statute does not violate the due process provisions of the Fifth Amendment. Rosenberg v. United States, 360 U.S. 367, 79 S.Ct. 1231, 3 L.Ed.2d 1304; Palermo v. United States, 360 U.S. 343, 79 S.Ct. 1217, 3 L.Ed.2d 1287.
In accordance with the foregoing, the judgment of the District Court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James WEST v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Andrew REMES v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Hyman LUMER v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Sam REED v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Eric REINTHALER v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Marie Reed HAUG v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee Fred HAUG v. United States
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- 11 cases
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- Published