United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. United States, 360 U.S. 395 (1959)

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. United States

No. 489

Argued April 28, 1959

Decided June 22, 1959*

360 U.S. 395

Syllabus

Petitioners were convicted in a Federal District Court of conspiring to fix prices of plain plate glass mirrors in violation of §1 of the Sherman Act. After a key government witness had testified at their trial and had admitted that he had testified on the same general subject matter before the grand jury which indicted petitioners, their counsel moved for production of the grand jury minutes, not attempting to show any particularized need for them, but claiming an absolute right to their production under Jencks v. United States, 353 U. S. 657. This motion was denied by the trial judge.

Held: under Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the question whether the grand jury minutes should be produced was committed to the sound discretion of the trial judge; no abuse of his discretion has been shown, and petitioners' conviction is sustained. Pp. 360 U. S. 396-401.

(a) Neither Jencks v. United States, supra, nor 18 U.S.C. § 3500, which superseded its doctrine, has any bearing on this case, since neither of them relates to grand jury minutes. P. 360 U. S. 398.

(b) Under Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the question whether grand jury minutes should be disclosed is committed to the sound discretion of the trial judge. Pp. 360 U. S. 398-399.

(c) No particularized need for production of the grand jury's minutes having been shown, the trial judge did not err in denying their production. United States v. Procter & Gamble, 356 U. S. 677. Pp. 360 U. S. 399-401.

260 F.2d 397 affirmed.

Page 360 U. S. 396