[Download] "Jessen v. United States." by United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Jessen v. United States.
- Author : United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit
- Release Date : January 07, 1954
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 53 KB
Description
Obedient to a subpoena served upon him, appellant appeared before a grand jury empaneled by the United States Court for Colorado. In response to questions propounded to him, he gave his name, age, and address. But he refused to answer all other questions on the ground that to answer them might incriminate him. And he stated that he refused to answer any questions. The grand jury presented to the court a petition for an order directing appellant to show cause why he should not be punished as and for criminal contempt. Appellant appeared in person and by attorney. In the course of the hearing, the court advised the parties that in its opinion some of the questions propounded were proper and should have been answered, and that others were criminating in character and the refusal to answer them was well founded. The court in effect directed appellant to return to the grand jury room, answer the questions which were clearly not of a criminating nature, and claim his constitutional right against answering questions which he believed in good faith would tend to incriminate him. And the court observed that after that had been done the court would determine whether the refusals were well founded. With the approval of the court, the attorney and appellant thereupon went outside the court room and consulted. After returning, the attorney stated to the court that if appellant should go before the grand jury again, he would claim his privilege as he had already done. The court then found appellant guilty of contempt, committed him to jail for a period of six months, and ordered him to pay a fine of $500. The appeal is from that judgment.