William O. Douglas

“ But it is difficult to see how the summoning of a third party, and the records of a third party, can violate the rights of the taxpayer, even if a criminal prosecution is contemplated or in progress. There is no right to be free from incrimination by the records or testimony of others.
The taxpayer may, however, protect his interests in any hearings held pursuant to § 7602. The Internal Revenue Service is clearly conducting a criminal investigation of the petitioner. That is the function of special agents. [1] The purpose of the summonses is to gather evidence for a criminal prosecution. ”

“ There is nothing in the language of § 7602 to limit the issuance of summonses to civil investigations. Therefore, even though petitioner is the subject of a criminal investigation, that is no bar to the issuance of the summonses. It is true that a person who is summoned may object that the production of records or testifying would violate his rights under the Fourth or Fifth Amendments. And a taxpayer would clearly have standing to raise a claim of violation of his constitutional rights if a third party were ordered to produce records belonging to the taxpayer. ”

“ The traditional English and American grand jury is composed of 12 to 23 members selected from the general citizenry of the locality where the alleged crime was committed. They bring into the grand jury room the experience, knowledge and viewpoint of all sections of the community. They have no axes to grind and are not charged personally with the administration of the law. No one of them is a prosecuting attorney or law-enforcement officer ferreting out crime. It would be very difficult for officers of the state seriously to abuse or deceive a witness in the presence of the grand jury. ”