Hugo Black

“ A new trial is necessary in this case at which a jury will be privileged to hear all the relevant testimony and will be free to determine from an honest record whether these defendants are guilty. It advances nothing to say, as the Court of Appeals said, that credibility is for the jury. In this case, the new evidence offered by the government witness conclusively demonstrates that even the jury could not properly weigh credibility at the time of the trial because these damaging sworn accusations against Lubben did not exist at that time. ”

“ The Court is here departing from the proper test as laid down in Bram for determining whether a disclosure is induced by a governmental promise. It was there said that a person is 'involuntarily impelled to make a statement when but for the improper influences he would have remained silent.' 168 U.S., at 549, 18 S.Ct., at 189. But for the immunity promised to the defendants in this case, it is inconceivable that they would have volunteered evidence upon which they could be tried and perhaps convicted of tax evasion. ”

“ No human being, not even the trial judge, is capable of saying that this jury would have convicted these defendants had Lubben sworn the whole truth when the jury listened to him. Moreover, in Mesarosh the Solicitor General conceded only that he believed that a witness against defendants had given testimony in other proceedings that was 'untrue.' There was no evidence that the witness had committed perjury, and the Solicitor General specifically refused to concede that he had. ”

“ It seems to me that a taxpayer, uneasy about possible criminal prosecution and worried about its destructive effect on his family, reputation, and business, would be susceptible to an official promise of immunity just as any other person fearful of prosecution for some other offense. ”

“ But again, we have held that 'it does not remove the taint for a reviewing court to find that there is ample innocent testimony to support the * * * findings.' [34] Further, in Mesarosh we said, 'The district judge is not the proper agency to determine that there was sufficient evidence at the trial, other than that given by Mazzei, to sustain a conviction of any of the petitioners. Only the jury can determine what it would do on a different body of evidence, and the jury can no longer act in this case.' [35] For this reason a new trial was ordered. ”

“ Moreover, unlike Mesarosh, we have here an acknowledgment by the district judge that the testimony Lubben gave to the jury was probably exaggerated. In another case involving a charge by the defendants that it had discovered that the Government's witnesses were completely untrustworthy and should be accorded no credence, this Court remanded on these mere allegations in order to assure 'findings upon untainted evidence,' and said.
'The untainted administration of justice is certainly one of the most cherished aspects of our institutions. Its observance is one of our proudest boasts. ”

“ To explain what confessions are admissible under the Fifth Amendment because not 'compelled,' the Court quoted and adopted this passage from 3 Russell on Crimes 478 (6th ed.) :
"But a confession, in order to be admissible, must be free and voluntary; that is, must not be extracted by any sort of threats or violence, nor obtained by any direct or implied promises, however slight * * *. A confession can never be received in evidence where the prisoner has been influenced by any threat or promise ”

“ The defendants claimed in their confessions and at their trial that they had to make these over-ceiling charges for candy to compensate for over-ceiling prices they paid for corn used in making corn syrup and other by-products necessary to the operation of their candy factory. The defendants' defense, therefore, was that all the overages paid to Shotwell by Lubben and his companies were paid out by Shotwell for raw corn and that, since the unreported income was virtually offset by unreported expenses, they were not guilty of the tax violations charged. ”

“ The trial judge submitted this issue to the jury with the instruction that it should reject the confession if 'trickery, fraud or deceit' had been 'practiced on petitioner or his accountant.' This Court held that on those facts the issue was properly submitted to the jury and that 'the jury, in arriving at its general verdict (of guilt) , could have found from the conflicting evidence that no fraudulent inducement had been offered petitioner or his accountant.' 348 U.S., at 151, 75 S.Ct., at 196. ”

“ Confessions of guilt 'are inadmissible if made under any threat, promise, or encouragement of any hope or favor.' [7] This Court's leading discussion of the admissibility of confessions, admissions, and incriminating statements both at common law and under the Fifth Amendment is contained in Bram v. ”

“ I cannot agree to this holding because I still believe that constitutional provisions designed to protect individual liberty from oppressive procedural tactics by government should be liberally construed in order to prevent their erosion and obliteration by insidious Legislative, Executive, and Judicial encroachments. ”

“ Some form of voluntary disclosure policy had existed since 1919. In 1945, however, the policy took the form of a clear and direct invitation to taxpayers to come forward and disclose their tax derelictions in reliance on the Government's unequivocal promise of immunity. ”