John Marshall Harlan II

“ D.C., 131 F.Supp. 742, commends itself to us as a proper means of dealing with problems such as those raised by the Solicitor General's motion. We do not, of course, even remotely imply that we give any tolerance to the notion that a criminal conviction found to be infected by tainted testimony should be allowed to stand. We do say that ascertainment of where the truth lies here requires the kind of probing that is beyond the facilities and practices of this Court.
For the foregoing reasons we dissent. We think that the Government's motion to remand should have been granted. ”

“ This, however, overlooks the fact that as a preliminary to a new trial it must first be determined whether any of Mazzei's collateral testimony, now drawn in question, so reflects upon the truthfulness or credibility of his trial testimony as to warrant submission of the case to a new jury. That preliminary determination has always been recognized as the function of the trial court. ”

“ The only reason I suggest that possibly it should not be made available to them is that in this whole problem there are several people involved who might get hurt by a public airing of their connection with this matter. And it would be too bad, and very unfortunate, if it wasn't handled so as not to injure those people when it isn't necessary to the proper handling of this problem. ”