United States Circuit Court

“ There is no jury trial in his court, except at his discretion; and he never orders an issue to be tried before a jury, except when the evidence is so doubtful that he can come to no satisfactory conclusion, and he then puts upon a jury the responsibility of guessing. The United States courts are invested by the Constitution with this power, and they exercise it, sitting as circuit courts in the different States. ”

“ It is universally understood that the judgments of the courts of the United States, although their jurisdiction be not shown in the pleadings, are yet binding on all the world; and that this apparent want of jurisdiction can avail the party only on a writ of error. This acknowledged principle seems to us to settle the question now before the court. The judgment of the circuit court in a criminal-case is of itself evidence of its own legality, and requires for its support no inspection of the indictments on which it is founded. ”

“ It has not only produced a conflict among the circuits, but has provoked practical difficulties in the administration of criminal justice and caused expressions of dissatisfaction even in courts that have sustained an appeal. Although only the Fourth and Fifth Circuits have clearly departed from the Second Circuit's view, [6] the consensus in the others is far from unwavering. [7] The First Circuit, for example, has declined to permit pretrial entertainment of any suppression motions other than those explicitly authorized by the language of Rule 41 (e) . ”

“ But as we feel well assured that the claiment, who has done everything in his power to secure action upon his account by the district attorney and the court, and who has a just claim against the government for services rendered under the act of congress, has a remedy in the court of claims, we do not see why he should be compelled first to resort to a writ of mandamus against the circuit court. ”

“ A circuit court of appeals is not limited to issuing a writ of habeas corpus only when it finds that it is 'necessary' in the sense that the court could not otherwise physically discharge its appellate duties. ”

“ Nor does it subject the defendants to any inconvenience, from a joint action; since it secures to each defendant, every privilege of pleading and defence of which he could avail himself if severally sued. The Circuit Court has incorporated the action with all its incidents into its course of practice; and having full power by law to adopt it, we see no legal objection to its doing so, in the prosecution of that system, upon which it has always acted. It cannot be contended that the liabilities of the defendants under their contract, have been increased, or even varied ”

“ To hold, as the majority opinion does, that the district court plainly erred by (1) failing to extrapolate this questionable result from Yates and Griffin, and (2) failing to give an unrequested jury instruction on a waivable affirmative defense based on that extrapolation, is to place an extraordinary and inappropriate burden on this circuit's district courts.
DEFENDANTS HAVE NOT MET THEIR BURDEN OF SHOWING PREJUDICE Under Rule 52 (b) , an appellate court may correct plain error only if that error "affects substantial rights." ”

“ No appeal lies from the judgments either of the District or Circuit Court in criminal cases; and yet within the cognisance of one or both of those courts are all crimes and offences against the United States, from those which are capital down to the lowest misdemeanors, affecting the liberty and the property of the citizens. And yet there can be no doubt that this denial of appellate jurisdiction is founded in a wise protective public policy. ”

“ The Court has, however, in fact allowed appeals from orders granting and denying pre-indictment motions, [2] and these dispositions have given rise to explanatory dicta that lend support to the rule developed in the Second Circuit. [3] Not only disagreement among the circuits but dubieties within them demand an adjudication based upon searching consideration of such conflicting and confused views regarding a problem of considerable importance in the proper administration of criminal justice. ”

“ It is the general doctrine that there can be no certificate of a division of opinion between the judges of the circuit court on a motion for a new trial, as such motion usually rests in the discretion of the court, and, therefore, properly presents no questions for our determination. ”