''In re Oliver'', 333 U.S. 257 (1948), was a decision by the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
involving the application of
the right of due process in state court proceedings. The
Sixth Amendment in the
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...
states that
criminal prosecutions require the defendant "... to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation...and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." In this case, a witness in a Michigan grand jury hearing was convicted and sentenced to jail without either notice or attorney assistance.
Prior history
On September 11, 1946 William Oliver was summoned by subpoena to a
grand jury in
Oakland County
Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
Circuit Court Judge George B. Hartrick had been appointed as a one-man secret grand jury to investigate
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
participation in local
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
and public corruption. A local
pinball operator, Oliver was examined under oath as a witness and was not accused of any crime or represented by an attorney. At the conclusion of his testimony, Hartrick and two other circuit judges (who were not members of the grand jury but present as advisors) agreed that Oliver had given "false and evasive answers" to Hartrick's questions. Without pausing the proceeding or
permitting Oliver counsel, Hartrick convicted Oliver of
contempt of court and sentenced him to 60 days in the county jail.
After three days, Oliver was able to secure an attorney who filed for writs of ''
Habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' and
certiorari to the
Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...
challenging the conviction. Because Michigan state law authorizing the one-man grand jury proceedings allowed judge/grand jury to punish contempt at their sole discretion, The Michigan Supreme Court dismissed Oliver's
due process claims as being "without merit" and upheld the conviction and sentence.
Decision
The United States Supreme Court took the case in part to decide if, contrary to the lower Court's opinion, the Sixth Amendment protections applied to state court hearings. The Court's majority opinion began by evaluating the Michigan one-man grand jury process, calling it "unique" and "peculiar." The Court had long accepted that grand juries, operating as investigative tools, needed and were allowed to operate in secrecy. The Michigan grand jury law, however, impermissibly mixed this traditional investigative function with circuit court conviction and punishment. It held that:
* The secrecy of the (irregular and abbreviated) trial for criminal contempt violated the due process clause
:*The need for secrecy of grand jury investigative proceedings did not justify secrecy in accusing Oliver of an offense for which he faced jail time
:*An accused is entitled to a public trial no matter the offense charged
*The failure to afford Oliver a reasonable opportunity to defend himself against the contempt charge was a denial of due process of law
:*At a minimum due process required reasonable notice, the right to examine the witnesses, the right to testify, and the right to counsel
:*The judgment of Hartrick that Oliver committed contempt of court in the court's actual presence was insufficient justification to deny Oliver these rights
The Michigan Supreme Court and Oakland County Circuit Court rulings were overturned. Justice Black likened the Michigan grand jury's discretionary contempt convictions to English
Star Chamber secret convictions and French pre-Revolutionary
lettres de cachet
''Lettres de cachet'' (; ) were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce arbitrary actions and judgments that c ...
allowing imprisonment without the opportunity for defense.
Effects of the decision
Michigan later eliminated one-person grand juries. Michigan law currently requires citizen's grand juries presided over by a circuit judge. This case was later cited by , , , , and .
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 333
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases
This page serves as an index of lists of United States Supreme Court cases. The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court of the United States.
By Chief Justice
Court historians and other legal scholars consider each Chief J ...
External links
*
27 N.W.2d 323 (Mich. 1948)Lower court opinion
{{US6thAmendment
1948 in United States case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Vinson Court
Incorporation case law