United States District Court, District of Columbia.

“ The government contends that the allegations of Count Twenty-three plainly make out a violation of section 1510 as an object of the conspiracy. According to the government, the "accomplice" rule is not applicable to this case because the unindicted co-conspirator, Michael Meisner, at one point withdrew from the conspiracy, and it was not until his withdrawal that the conspirators agreed to obstruct a criminal investigation in violation of section 1510. Thus, the unindicted co-conspirator became a victim of the section 1510 objective when he was no longer an accomplice. ”

“ By charging the defendants with preparing and assisting in the giving of false and misleading testimony in order to impede the investigatory function of the Grand Jury, the indictment in Count Twenty-four steps beyond mere perjury and properly alleges an obstruction of justice under section 1503. The Court is not prepared to hold that nothing short of bribery, intimidation or threats suffices to state an offense under section 1503. ”

“ First, the Court finds that the inclusion of legal means in a list entitled "illegal means" is prejudicial and irrelevant and should be stricken. The government is correct in asserting that an overt act need not be illegal; however, the Court finds that inclusion of legal acts under a heading of "illegal means" would be prejudicial and misleading. The defendants request that the legal means be struck. ”

“ On August 15, 1978, a United States Grand Jury empanelled by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia returned a twenty-eight count indictment against eleven individuals. Indicted are: Mary Sue Hubbard, Jane Kember, Morris Budlong, Henning Heldt, Duke Snider, Gregory Willardson, Richard Weigand, Mitchell Hermann, Cindy Raymond, Gerald Bennett Wolfe, and Sharon Thomas. Nine of the defendants are currently under the jurisdiction of the Court and two, Kember and Budlong, are in Great Britain, where extradition proceedings are pending. ”

“ The three factors the court in Yates focused on to decide that case were: (1) the reliability of the statement; (2) whether the evidence was peripheral or devastating; and (3) whether the witness is equally available to the prosecution and the defense. Id. On the facts before it, the court found that the evidence was unreliable: "Clearly, *89 grave doubts exist as to the sincerity of the self-serving statement," Id., it found that it was far from peripheral, and that the government could have granted Jones immunity to make him available to the defense. ”

“ The defendants contend that they have a right to personally interview the witness to determine his willingness to be interviewed. In support of their position, they rely on People v. Paskowitz, 151 Misc. 171, 270 N.Y.S. 799 (1934) which held that a witness' willingness to be interviewed is a matter upon which the witness should be permitted to speak for himself. However, neither Paskowitz nor any case cited to this Court requires that the witness must indicate his willingness at a hearing at which he is confronted by defense counsel. ”

“ The defendants are not charged with violating the latter section.
[7] The Constitution has explicit protections against excessive concentration of power in the federal government. Power is allocated among the federal government and the states by specifying those powers the Congress might exercise and by emphasizing in the tenth amendment that undelegated powers were reserved to the states or respectively to the people. Accordingly, Congress has authority to act only with respect to the powers specified in the Constitution. ”

“ The defendants object to their inclusion in the indictment because they insinuate unalleged facts unnecessary to the elements of the crimes charged, and they may open the door to attempts by the prosecution to enlarge the charges, and they may lead the jury to infer accusations of crimes beyond those actually charged. ”

“ When an organized group attempts to prevent one of its members from withdrawing from a conspiracy, surrendering to federal investigators, and detailing the criminal offenses committed by the other members of the group, plainly a violation of section 1510 is made out. ”

“ Of the ten defendants named in Count One, only one has no involvement in the first conspiracy as defined by the defendants; only one has no involvement in the second conspiracy as defined by the defendants ”

“ The second factor, which as previously indicated, often demonstrates a linkage between individuals so that an agreement can be inferred is the objectives encompassed by the behavior of the conspirators. In Kotteakos, there was more than a single conspiracy because each person who attempted to get a loan through the central figure had no interest in whether the other people trying to get similar fraudulent loans succeeded or not. ”

“ United States v. Perkins, 383 F.Supp. 922 (N.D.Ohio 1974) (holding that there is a constitutional basis for the action of Congress in enacting section 2511 (1) (a) to protect the right of privacy from incursions by private individuals) . Moreover, the defendants concede that the actions alleged in the indictment constitute crimes at the common law; thus, a judicial modification of the statute will not create any notice problems to the defendants.
[10] The Grand Jury has anticipated the Burroughs problem and has alleged a federal nexus in the indictment. ”

“ Even if the defendants are correct in pointing out that there must be some linkage between what can logically be treated as separate agreements, the defendants are not correct in asserting that the acts alleged in Count One of the indictment in this case lack such linkage. ”

“ See H.Rep.No.98-658, 1967 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News at 1762; United States v. Cameron, 460 F.2d at 1402 ("There is no hint in the proof of force, threats, intimidation and perhaps none of misrepresentation.") . ”

“ The defendants contend that this joinder of three conspiracies in one count of the indictment violates Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946) . In Kotteakos, the Supreme Court reversed the convictions of defendants who were charged in a one-count indictment with a conspiracy to obtain fraudulent loans through the National Housing Act. Id. at 752-53, 66 S.Ct. 1239. At the center of the conspiracy was one man who arranged the fraudulent loans for a number of people. Id. ”