Petition — Rees v. County of Los Angeles
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FILED
MAR 22 1984
7 . . 5 97 ALEXANDER L. STEVAS.
Misc. No. CLERK
Seiad
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1983
JOHN REES,
Appellant,
a Ve a
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
Appellee.
IN RE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT
JOHN REES
2805 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
301/366-2531
Petitioner Pro Se
QUESTION PRESENTED
1. May a state which by statute pro-
tects journalists from being compelled to
disclose “in any legal proceeding the
source of any news or information that was
obtained for the purpose of publication"
Or other media dissemination deny that
protection to a resident journalist prac-
ticing that profession without interrup-
tion for seventeen years by ordering him
not only to appear before the grand jury
of another state to testify but also to
produce information that falls within the
protective language of the statute.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Opinions Below e*eeeeeeeeneeneeeensneneeneeee
Jurisdictional Statement ....cccecees
Pertinent Constitutional
Provisions and Statutes ....ceceecess
Statement of the Case:
Procedural History eeeeeeeeeneseeeeeee
Relevant FactS cecccccccccccccccvcces
Reasons for Allowance of the Writ ...
CONCLUSION cccccccccccccccccccccccccs
APPENdices .ccccccccccccccscccccccece
Appendix A: Order of the Maryland
Court of Appeals eeeeoeeeeeeeeeeneeee
Appendix B: Opinion of the Mary-
land Court of Special Appeals ...
Appendix C: Relevant Proceedings
of September 15, 1983, in the
Circuit Court for Baltimore
City, Maryland eeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeaeene
Notice of Appearance ......seeseeees
Service eeeneeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeee
- 7 of Vat nt *.
lh eee ie a Ee EE LS
45
47
i
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
KSDO v. The Superior Court of Riverside
County, 136 Cal. App.3d 375, 186,
Cal. Rptr. 211, 214, 216 (1982) ...
Constitution of the United. States,
Amendment I e*eeeeeeeeneteeeneeneeeeneeee
Amendment XIV e*eneeeeeeeeeneeeeneneeeeee
California Evidence Code Section 1070..
Maryland Annotated Code,
Courts and Judicial Proceedings,
Section 9-112 ccoccccceccosscee
Section 9-301 eeseeeeeeereseee
Section 9-302 eeeeeereeeeeeees
Section 9-304 eeeeeeeeeseeeee
ii
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vil
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4-2
6 "
Misc. No.
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1983
JOHN REES,
Appellant,
= Ve ©
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
Appellee.
IN RE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, I
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
eee De
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
ly 7 .
¥ * i> t Pe
at. Ee on
Petitioner John Rees respectfully
requests that this Court issue a Writ of
Certiorari to review the denial of certior-
ari by the Court of Appeals of Maryland on
December 27, 1983, and the decision and
order of the Court of Special Appeals of
Maryland in In Re State of California for
the County of Los Angeles, Grand Jury
Investigation, Md. App. ’ A.2d
(No. 1088, September Term, 1533,
@ecided October 7, 1983).
OPINIONS BELOW
The Court of Appeals of Maryland
denied Petitioner's application for a Writ
of Certiorari by order dated December 27,
1983. A copy of said order is attached as
Exhibit "A." The Court of Special Appeals
filed a reported opinion on March 6, 1984,
which is attached as Exhibit "B." The
relevant proceedings in the trial court,
attached as Exhibit "C," contain an oral
opinion delivered by the trial judge.
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JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT
On 27 December 1983, the Court of
Appeals of Maryland denied Petitioner's
Application for Writ of Certiorari. The
Jurisdiction of this Court is invoked
under 20 U.S.C. 1257(3).
PERTINENT CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
AND STATUTES
United States Constitution, Amendment I.
"Congress shall make no law *** abridg-
ing the freedom of speech or of the
press; ***,"
United States Constitution, Amendment XIV.
"nor shall any person *** be deprived
of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law ***,
Maryland Annotated Code, Courts & Judicial
.? Proceedings, Section 9-112.
| "A person engaged in, connected
i with, or employed on a newspaper or
: journal or for any radio or television
é station may not be compelled to dis-
close, in any legal proceeding or ott
ch trial or before any committee of the ie
legislature or elsewhere, the source
of any news or information that was
obtained by the person for the pur-
poses of publication in a newspaper or
journal or for purposes of dissemina- :
tion by a radio or television station
where the verson is engaged, connected
with or employed." -
Maryland Annotated Code, Courts & Judicial
Proceedings, Section 9-301.
"(a) In General. - In this title
the following words have the meanings
indicated.
(b) State. - "State" means any
state or territory of the United
States and the District of Columbia.
(c) Summons. - "Summons" means a
subpoena, order, or other notice
requiring the appearance of a witness.
(4) Witness. - “Witness means a
person whose testimony is desired in
any proceeding or investigation by a
grand jury or in a criminal prosecu-
tion or proceeding.”
Maryland Annotated Code, Courts & Judicial
Proceedings, Section 9-302.
"(a) Certificate that witness is )
needed in another state; hearing. - If °
a judge of a court of record in any
state which by its laws has maje pro-
vision for commanding persons within *;
that state to attend and testify in a
the State certifies under seal of the 3
court that there is a criminal prose- |
cution pending in the court, or that a
grand jury investigation has commenced —
or is about to commence, that a person
being within the State is a material
witness in the prosecution, or grand
jury investigation, and that his pre-
sence will be required for a specified
number of days, upon presentation of |
the certificate to any judge of a
court of record, in the county in
which the person is, the judge shall
fix a time and place for a hearing,
and shall make an order directing the
witness to appear at a time and place
certain for the hearing.
(b) Court may order witnesses to
attend. - If at the hearing the judge
Aetermines that the witness is material
and necessary, that it will not cause
undue hardship to the witness to be
compelled to attend and testify in the
prosecution or a grand jury investiga-
tion in the other state, and that the
laws of the state in which the prose-
cution is pending, or grand jury in-
vestigation has commenced or is about
to commence, and of any other state
through which the witness may be re-
quired to pass ordinary course of tra-
vel, will give to him protection from
arrest and the service of civil and
criminal process, he shall issue a
summons, with a copy of the certifi-
cate attached, directing the witness
to attend and testify in the court
where the prosecution is pending, or
where a grand jury investigation has
commenced or is about to commence at a
time and place specified in the sum-
mons. In the hearing the certificate
shall be prima facie evidence of all
the facts stated therein."
-5-
“ae?
Se
— SY Fe a. ee
a
PR ea a ee
Maryland Annotated Code, Courts & Judicial
Proceedings, Section 9-304.
“(a) Exemption of person coming into
State to attend and testify. - If a e
person comes into this State in obe-
dience to a summons directing him to
attend and testify in this State he «
siall not while in this State pursuant
to such summons be subject to arrest
or the‘service of process, civil or
criminal, in connection with matters
which arose before his entrance into
this State under the summons.
(b) Exemption of person passing
through State while going to another
state. - If a person passes through
this State while going to another
state in obedience to a summons to
attend and testify in that state or
while returning therefrom, he shall
not whole so passing through this
State be subject to arrest or the ser-
vice of process, civil or criminal, in
connection with matters which arose.
before his entrance into this State
under the summons."
California Evidence Code, Section 1070.
"(a) A publisher, editor, reporter,
or other person connected with or
employed upon a newspaper, magazine,
or other periodical publication, or by
a press association or wire service, ‘¢
or any person who has-been so connect- ©
ed or employed, cannot be adjudged in
contempt by a judicial, legislative,
administrative body, or any other body
having the power to issue subpoenas, ae
elt
.
oo) eee a et RN ea eee 8 Ne aeons ee .
4 Ty : . : ey
, - -
tod .
oy
for refusing to disclose, in any pro-
ceeding as defined in Section 901, the
source of any information procured
while so connected or employed for
publication in a newspaper, magazine
4 or other periodical publication, or
for refusing to disclose any unpublish-
ed information obtained or prepared in
4 gathering, receiving or processing
processing of information for com-
munication to the public.”
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
“PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The Grand Jury of Los Angeles County,
California, is investigating alleged theft
and concealment of public records by offi-
cers and employees of the Los Angeles
Police Department and their disclosure to
third parties.
The State of California requested that
Se the Petitioner, John Rees, appear before
the Grand Jury bringing with him "all
records of information" furnished him by
any Los Angeles Police Department officer
-7-
or employee and "all other data base
information whether stored electronically
or otherwise." -
On 15 September 1983, following a <
hearing, the Circuit Court for Baltimore
City, Maryland, Judge Robert L. Karwacxi,
ordered John Rees to appear on 29 Septem-
ber 1983 before the Los Angeles County
Grand Jury in California, and to bring
with him records, documents and infor-
mation as demanded by the Grandi Jury. On
20 September 1983, an appeal from the
Order of the Baltimore City Circuit Court
was filed to the Court of Special Appeals.
On 27 September 1983, the Court of Special
Appeals issued an Order staying the pro-
ceedings pending appeal. After briefing
and oral agrument, the Court of Special
Appeals of Maryland affirmed the order of
the. Circuit Court for Baltimore City
, . i eee
5 o> 4 Cis Sh Bele 4° - ; a . oe, *
Pare SB: MAIR OP cg So ol SA A ee ‘ y
{Appendix B]. A Petition for a Writ of
Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of
Maryland was denied on December 27, 1983.
RELEVANT FACTS
A hearing was held on September 15,
1983, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore
City pursuant to Section 9-302 of the
Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of
the Maryland Annotated Code at which time
the State introduced a certificate signed
by a Superior Court Judge of Los Angeles
County, California. The certificate
stated that the Los Angeles County Grand
Jury is investigating an alleged theft and
concealment of public records, and further,
that Petitioner is a material and necessary
witness. ~ The State then rested its case.
The lower court then ruled that the certi-
ficate was insufficient to prove that
Petitioner was a material and necessary
witness, and it permitted the State to re-
open its case. The State called Detective
Ben Lovatto who testified that Detective
Jay Paul of the Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment had a contractual relationship with
Western Goals Foundation under which Paul
was to provide information to Western
Goals in exchange for money. Detective
Lovatto further testified that the
Petitioner, a newsman and editor of
Western Goals, took certain computer tapes
and floppy discs containing information
provided by Paul. The testimony was
objected to by the Petitioner as being
hearsay, but was admitted by the court.
No additional evidence was introduced
and arguments of counsel were presented.
The court ruled that the evidence pre-
sented established that Petitioner is a
material and necessary witness in the
Grand Jury investigation, and that his
attendance will not cause him undue
hardship. The court further ordered that
Petitioner must also produce tangible
evidence at the time of his appearance in
California.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE OF THE WRIT
The Constitutionally provided rights
to free speech and a free press, supported
by due process considerations, demand that
appellant be permitted to assert the pro-
tection of the Maryland "Press Shield
Statute" [Maryland Courts and Judicial
Proceedings Code Annotated, Section 9-112
(1980 Repl. Vol.)j.
Under that Maryland statute, the
petitioner, John Rees, a Maryland resident
-ll-
and professional journalist of some twenty
years standing who carries out the writing
of his articles and books in his Maryland
residence and has compiled an extensive
"data base” on the subjects of his writing
which include criminal subcultures an4
terrorist organizations, could not be com-
pelled to disclose in any legal proceeding
the source of information obtained for the
purpose of publication or for dissemina-
tion via television and radio, video docu-
mentaries or other media formats.
Consideration of the Constitutional
protections above require the least intru-
sive means of investigation or that the
information sought is unavailable from any
other source. In this matter, evidence
introduced into the Circuit Court hearing
on September 15, 1983, indicated that a
number of other witnesses from the Los
-]2-
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as di “hen Shem ee ee OU ee :
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wn Oy)
4
Angeles Police Department, active duty and
retired, directly involved in this matter
r were available to the Grand Jury and had
already testified concerning disclosure of
information to third parties. Unlike the
Maryland “press shield," the California
"press shield law" to which he must look
for protection if the Maryland rulings are
upheld does not create any privilege. It
does not protect his research documents,
notes, files or other materials, nor does
it provide protection from any sanction
except contempt. KSDO v. The Superior
Court of Riverside County, 136 Cal. App.
3d 375, 186 Cal. Rptr. 211, 214, 216
(1982). The Los Angeles County Grand
Jury, having other directly involved wit-
nesses including at least one self-
identified source at its disposal, is not
harmed by appellant John Rees's assertion
-l3-
, : - 1) wR i" . 2 As
Mckay) Jo" a Wr Bee "Ne Ter Ne Eg a ree i OS Oe fet) Vy
of his Maryland press shield privilege.
Moreover, there is no compelling need to
require the appellant to’ disclose all
sources he may have had within the Los
Angeles Police Department during his
career or what information they may have
provided him. Nor is there a compelling
need for him to produce for the Los
Angeles Grand Jury .all of the documents
and materials Rees has amassed over the
years during the course of his journalism,
in the words of the California subpoena,
“all other data base information whether
stored electronically or otherwise."
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, appellant
John Rees respectfully requests that a
writ of certiorari issue to review the
judgment of the Court of Appeals of
Maryland.
Respectfully submitted,
10
DATED: 26th March, 1904(] . ee oe
JOHN REES
2805 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
301/366-2531
oo Seclvlonir, :
Misc. No.
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1983
IN RE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
Order of the Court of Appeals
of Maryland eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
APPENDIX B
Opinion of the Court of Special
Appeals of Maryland ..eeeeseecsees
APPENDIX C
Relevant Proceedings of September 15,
1983, in the Circuit Court for
Baltimore City, Maryland .....s+.6.
Lie tah ka, ane
16
18
APPENDIX A
IN RE: STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS :
ANGELES, GRAND JURY :
INVESTIGATION :
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
3
:
ORDER
IN THE
COURT OF
APPEALS
OF
MARYLAND
Petition
Docket No.
499
September
Term, 1983
Court of
Special
Appeals)
Upon consideration of the peti-
tion for a writ of certiorari to the Court
of Special Appeals in the above entitled
case, it is
ORDERED, by the Court of Appeals of
Maryland, that the petition be, and it is
hereby, denied as there has been no ee °
showing that review by certiorari is |
desirable and in the public interest.
{3/ ert C. Murphy
ef Judge
Date: December 27, 1983.
APPENDIX B
REPORTED
IN THE C OF SPECIAL APP
‘ OF MARYLAND
No. 1088
September Term, 1983
IN RE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
Gilbert, C.J.
Adkins
Bloom,
JJ.
Opinion by Gilbert, C.J.
Piled: March 6, 1984
“ A mt - ¥ rd
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This Court on October 7, 1983, issued
a per cuiram order affirming an order by
the Circuit Court for Baltimore City
(Karwacki, J.) that commanded John Rees to
"appear before the Grand Jury of the
County of Los Angeles, State of California
..."1 We now explain why we affirmed the
Circuit Court.
From the record we learn that the
Grand Jury of the County of Los Angeles is
inguiring into the unauthorized removal
and theft of intelligence information from
the Intelligence Division of the Los
Angeles Police Department (LAPDID) by
Detective Jay Paul (Paul).
There was testimony in the record that
Paul, who was assigned to the LAPDID, was
under a contractual relationship with
Western Goals Foundation in which he was
+ The Court of Appeals denied cer-
tiorari on December 27, 1983.
-19-
paid thirty thousand dollars a year “to
maintain a computer for Western Goals
Foundation and develop a computer program
to input information in the Western Goals
computer." Detective Ben Lovato of the
LAPD testified that, "Western Goals is a
private intelligence gathering foundation
e+e.” The computer for Western Goals was
maintained in the “office of ... Paul's
wife, in Long Beach, California."
Apparently Paul would feed information
gleaned from the LAPDID records into the
Western Goals computer.
The editor of Western Goals, John
Rees, allegedly removed from the office of
Paul's wife, “thirty discs and one tape
which contained" LAPDID “intelligence
information." Rees refused to turn over
the discs and tape to the LAPDID and left
California. Obviously, he made his way to
Maryland.
-20-
Because the Grand Jury of the County
of Los Angeles desired Rees's appearance
before it, a subpoena was issued on August
9, 1983, which commanded that Rees present °*
himself before that body on September 29,
1983. In addition to appearing personally
before the grand jury, Rees was directed
to produce:
"All records of information furnish-
ed you or Western Goals by Jay S.
Paul or any other Los Angeles Police
Department officer or employee, and/
or a representative of the office of
Ann Love. Such records are not
limited to but are to include 30
floppy discs and their printouts,
and storage tape and its printouts,
received on or about March ll, 1983,
from Jay S. Paul, and all other
floppy discs and their printouts,
and all other data base information
whether stored electronically or
otherwise."
Pursuant to the terms of the “Uniform
Act to Secure Attendance of Witnesses from
Without a State in Criminal Proceedings,"2 ~°
<The Maryland version of this act is
codified as 889-301 - 9-304 of the Courts
and Judicial Proceedings Article.
-2l1-
‘iz
Judge James M. Ideman of the Superior
Court for Los Angeles County certified
that Rees‘'s presence, together with the
discs, tape and printouts, was “necessary,
material and relevant to the issues"
before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury.
Judge Ideman further certified that Rees
would be protected “from arrest or service
of process, either civil or criminal ...."
The judge's certificate, along with
the subpoena of the grand jury, was
transmitted to Maryland. Rees resisted
returning to Los Angeles. The State of
California, acting through the state's
attorney for Baltimore City, moved pur-
suant to Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. Code Ann.
§ 9-303 to have the Circuit Court for
Baltimore City order Rees's appearance
before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury.
Following a hearing in the circuit court,
Judge Karwacki issued that order, and Rees
-22-
a
promptly appealed.
Because of the time restraints, we
advanced oral argument.
In this Court Rees asserted four ;
reasons why he believed that the order of
the circuit court should be reversed. We
shall discuss each of the arguments in the
order in which Rees posited them to us,
adding such additional facts as may be
necessary.
I.
"Under Section 9-302, hearsay evi-
dence is not admissible to prove
that appellant is a material and
necessary witness."
As we have previously commented, Judge
Ideman, a California jurist, certified
that Rees and the tangible evidence alle-
gedly possessed by Rees were “material, "
and relevant to the issues considered by
the Los Angeles Grand Jury."
Some States have held that such a cer-
-23-
y ge
By ite :
AT ed ,
tification when supported by an affidavit
is itself sufficient to require that the
witness be delivered to the requesting
State. See e.g. Epstein v. People of
State of New York, 157 So.2d 705 (Fla.App.
1963); In re Cooper, 127 N.J.L. 312, 22
A.2d 532 (1941); Superior Court, State of
New Jersey v. Farber, 94 Misc. 2d 886, 405
N.¥.S.2d 989 (1978). See also Ex parte
Armes, 582 S.W.2d 434 (Tex. Crim. App.
1979).
Maryland, in Appel v. New York, 243
Md. 218, 220 A.2d 301 (1966), did not de-
cide whether the issuance of the certifi-
cate of relevance and materiality was all
that was needed, inasmuch as the Maryland
hearing judge in Appel found from evidence
that the witness was “material and
1d necessary” to the New York probe.
In the instant case the certificate of
Judge Ideman was bolstered by an affidavit
-24-
from the deputy district attorney for Los
Angeles County that Rees's appearance to-
gether with the discs, tape and printouts
was necessary, relevant and material to
the grand jury's inquiry into the Western
Goals's suspected covert connection to the
LAPDID. The testimony of Detective Lovato
before Judge Karwacki was largely hearsay,
but we think no more than that is required
in the instant case.
Courts Art. 8 9-302 provides:
"(a) If a judge of a court of
record in any state which by its
laws has made provision for command-
ing persons within that state to
attend and testify in the State?
certifies under seal of the court
that there is a criminal prosecution
pending in the court, or that a
grand jury investigation has com-
menced or is about to commence, that
a person being within the State is a
material witness in the prosecution,
or grand jury retype, igo and
that his presence will be required
for a specified number of days, upon
presentation of the certificate to
any judge of a court of record, in
the county in which the person is,
the judge shall fix a time and place
-25-
for a hearing, 4nd shall make an
order directing the witness to
appear at a time and place certain
for the hearing.
(b) If at the hearing, the
judge determines that the witness is
material and necessary, and that it
will not cause undue hardship to the
witness to be compelled to attend
and testify in the prosecution or a
grand jury investigation in the
other state, and that the laws of
the state in which the prosecution
is pending, or grand jury investiga-
tion has commenced or is about to
commence, and of any other state
through which the witnesses may be
required to pass by ordinary course
of travel, will give to him protec-
tion from arrest and the service of
civil and criminal process he shall
issue a summons, with a copy of the
certificate attached, directing the
witness to attend and testify in the
court where the prosecution is pend-
ing, or where a grand jury investi-
gation has commenced or is about to
commence at a time and place spe-
cified in the summons.
-\ t
The Maryland Uniform Act to Secure
Attendance of Witnesses from Without a
State in ‘ Criminal Proceeding is related
by rationale and principles of comity to
-26-
to the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act,
Md. Ann. Code art. 41, 88 16-43.4
4 Section 18 of the Extradition sta-
tute provides:
"No demand for the extradition
of a person charged with crime in
another state shall be recognized by
the Governor unless in writing
alleging, except in cases arising
under § 21, that the accused was
present in the demanding state at
the time of the commission of the
alleged crime, and that thereafter
he fled from the state, and accom-
panied by a copy of an indictment
found or by information ecppesiee by
affidavit in the state having juris-
diction of the crime, or by a copy
of an affidavit made before a
justice of the peace or magistrate
there, together with a copy of any
warrant which was issued thereupon;
or by a copy of a judgment of con-
viction or of a sentence imposed in
execution thereof, together with a
statement by the executive authority
of the demanding state that the per-
son claimed has escaped from confine-
ment or has broken the terms of his
bail, probation or parole. The in-
dictment, information, or affidavit
made before the magistrate or jus-
tice of the peace must substantially
charge the person demanded with
having committed a crime under the
law of that state; and the y of
indictment, information, affidavit,
@27=
The principal difference is that in the
latter the person demanded by the
requesting State will be returned to that
State to fce criminal prosecution, while
in the former the person requested is to
testify and is specifically exempted from
prosecution for matters that “arose before
«+s entrance into [the] State under the
summons." Courts Art. 8 9-304; California
Penal Code § 1334.4.
It has been held in Maryland that the
strict rules of evidence are not applic-
able to extradition proceedings. Shield
v. State, 257 Md. 384, 263 A.2d 565 (1970);
Johnson v. Warden, 234 Md. 465, 200 A.2d
49 (1964). 1 Wigmore Evidence § 4
(Tillers rev. 1983) declares, “No jury
being involved, extradition proceedings
Tcont.
judgment of conviction or sentence
must be authenticated by the executive
authority making the demand."
are not governed in strictness by jury
trial rules of evidence ... Moveover, here
the additional reason obtains that the
evidence is brought from outside the juris-~-
diction, and the procurement of evidence
is thus likely to be hampered by lack of
power or practicability, as well as by the
poscible differences of law in another
system." (Footnote omitted.)
This Court, speaking through Judge
Morton in Campbell v. State, 10 Md. App.
406, 413, 271 A.2d 190 (1970), commented,
"If we assume that ... [the] affidavit [of
the Commonwealth of Virginia's attorney]
was based entirely upon hearsay evidence
»+. we find no violation of [Campbell's]
rights." Implicit in that remark is the
conclusion that hearsay evidence is admis-
sible in extradition proceedings. What
was implicit in Campbell is explicit in
-29-
In_ re David, 395 F. Supp. 803 (E.D. Ill.
1975) (hearsay admissible at extradition
hearing even though it would not be
admissible at trial); Graham v. Vanderhoof,
185 Colo. 334, 524 P.2d 611 (1974) (hear-
say admissible); People v. Miller, 74
Misc. 2d 806, 342 N.Y¥.S.2d 288 (1973)
(issuance of warrant of extradition may be
grounded upon hearsay); President of the
United States v. Kelly, 19 F.Supp. 730
(S.D.N.¥. 1937) (properly authenticated
depositions or affidavits admissible in
evidence in extradition proceeding irre-
spective of hearsay content); Klein v.
Mulligan, 50 F.2d 687 (2nd Cir. 1931)
(that evidence is hearsay is only a
"factor to be considered in determining
the weight to be accorded it."); In re
LoDolce, 106 F.Supp. 455 (W.D.N.Y¥. 1952)
(statute controlling evidence in extradi-
tion proceedings permits hearsay evidence).
-30-
We are convinced that admission of
hearsay in a case involving the attendance
of a witness at a criminal trial or before
a grand jury in another State is permissi-
ble. Such evidence is no more or no less
than another factor to be considered in
determining whether to grant the request-
ing State's motion to compel the atten-
dance of the witness.
We hold that Judge Karwacki did not
err in receiving that hearsay testimony.
Il.
"The evidence was insufficient to
establish that appellant was a
required oy Section $2302.¢
Rees's second issue relies heavily on
his argument that the hearsay evidence was
inadmissible. He obviously reasons that
if that evidence is stricken from the re-
' cord, the remainder, that is the certifi-
cate and accompanying affidavit, is insuf-
=31@
ficient to require his attendance before
the Los Angeles Grand Jury. The fallacy
in Rees's logic is that the hearsay evi-
- dence from Detective Lovato was admissible.
Consequently, Rees's contention collapses
inasmuch as its foundation has been under-
mined.
IIl.
"The appellant's inability to assert
the Maryland Press Shield Privilege,
pursuant to Section 9-112, before
the Los Angeles County Grand Jury,
is an undue hardship within the mean
ing of Section 9-302."
Rees seeks to take refuge behind the
"Maryland Press Shield Law,” Courts Art.
§ 9-112, which provides:
"A person engaged in, connected
_with or employed on a newspaper or
journal or for any radio or televi-
sion station may not be compelled to
, disclose, in any legal proceeding or
trial or before any committee of the
legislature or elsewhere, the. source
. of any news or information that was
obtained by the person for the pur-
ses of publication in a newspaper or
sourael or for purposes of dissemina-
-32-
tion by a radio or television station
where the person is engaged, connected
with or employed."
Rees avers that since he is a Maryland
resident he is entitled to the protection
of the Maryland act and, therefore, he
should not be compelled to disclose the
source of the information obtained by him.
Aside from the significant fact that
the “source” of Rees's information seems
to be already known to the Los Angeles
Grand Jury, Rees, in his appearance before
that august body will have to look to
California law for protection,> because
5 See California Evidence Code, 8 1970
(a), which provides:
"A publisher, editor, reporter,
or other person connected with or
employed upon a newspaper, magazine,
or other periodical publication, or by
a press association or wire service,
or any person who has been so connect-
ed or employed, cannot be adjudged in
contempt by a judicial, legislative,
administrative body, or any other body
whatever occurred between Rees and Detec-
tive Jay Paul took place in California,
not Maryland.
The Maryland Press Shield Law was de-
signed to protect newsmen and neewomen in
this State; it has no extra-territorial
application. The legislature did not
enact the Press Shield Law so as to create
a sanctuary to which out-of-state newsper-
sons could flee and thereby avoid disclo-
Sure of news sources. Rees's attempted
utilization of the Maryland Press Shield
Law is disingenuous. We reject it.
3 continued
having the power to issue subpoenas,
for refusing to disclose, in any pro-
ceeding as defined in Section 901, the
source of any information procured
while so connected or employed for
publication in a newspaper, magazine
or other periodical publication, or
for refusing to disclose any unpublish-
ed information obtained or prepared in
gathering, receiving or processing
processing of information for com-
munication to the public."
-34-
IV.
"Courts Art. 89-301 et. seq. does
not authorize a Maryland court to
issue a summons directing the
appellant to produce computer tapes
and floppy discs."
Rees's argument relative to the inabi-
lity of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury
to issue a subpoena duces tecum for an
Out-of-state witness is likewise devoid of
merit.
Courts Art. § 9-301 provides:
"(a) In this title the following
words have the meanings indicated.
(b) "'State’ means any state or
territory of the United States and
the District of Columbia.
(c) ‘Summons’ means a subpoena,
order, or other notice requiring the
appearance of a witness.
(ad) ‘Witness’ means a person
whose testimony is desired in any
proceeding or investigation by a
grand jury or in a criminal prosecu-
tion or proceeding.”
Conspicuously absent from the provi-
sion of § 9-301 is the term subpoena duces
@
tecum. Inasmuch as the statute does not
use that term, Rees concludes that the
certifying State is without power to issue
such a subpoena. In short, Rees asserts
that because the subpoena duces tecum is
not specifically authorized under the act,
its issuance is unauthorized. He employs
a slight variance on the old saw, “out of
sight is out of mind."6
Although Maryland has not heretofore
considered the issue,’ posed to us by Rees,
several of our sister States have had the
6 Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861) in
"Songs of Absence” (1862).
7 In re Special Investigation, No. 219,
52 Md. App. 17, 445 A.2d 1081 (1982), in-
volved a subpoena duces tecum issued in
Maryland to a citizen of Virginia. The
question of the authority of the Grand
Jury for Baltimore City to — a
subpoena duces tecum was not decided,
wires i its validity appears to have been
assumed.
-36-
occasion to pass upon a similar argument.
New Jersey, in In re Saperstein, 30
N.J.Super 373, 104 A.2d 842 (1954), cert.
denied, 348 U.S. 874, said that "the term
‘subpoena’ ... embracef[{d] ‘subpoena duces
tecum.'" See also Davis v. Lehigh Valley
Railroad Co., 97 N.J.L. 412 (Sup. Ct.
1922). In Application of a Grand Jury of
the State of New York, 397 N.E.2d 686 |
(Mass. App. 1979), the same argument as
that made by Rees was before the court.
There a bank upon which was served a sub-
poena duces tecum from a New York Grand
Jury sought to avoid compliance by assert-
ing that the word “summons” as defined in
the Uniform Act did not include a “subpoena
duces tecum." The Massachusetts court
opined:
"The Uniform Act makes no men-
tion of subpoenas duces tecum or of
the power of a court under the Act
to order the production of documents.
That silence does not necessarily
imply a rejection of the power. The
powers to compel the testimony of a
witness and to compel the production
of documents are so similar in
nature and so fundamental to the
gathering of evidence in judicial
proceedings that one is hard put to
imagine a reason for permitting the
former and rejecting the latter; and
one suspects that a conscious inten-
tion to differentiate between testi-
monial and documentary evidence
would have found some concrete ex-
pression in the words of the Act,
rather than mere silence. It is not
inconceivable that the question of
how the Act would relate to the pro-
duction of documents simply never
occurred to the Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws. The record of
their deliberations can be read as
confirming such a suspicion, for we
find therein no reference to the
production of documents, even in
passing, much less a discrete sub-
ject of discussion. See Handbooks
of the National Conference of
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
for the years 1915 (at 64-65, 88),
1922 (at 118, 358-361), 1923 (at
78-180), 1924 (at 678-679), 1927 (at
915-918), 1928 (at 430-433), 1929
(at 119-123), 356, 359), 1930 (at
110-113), 575-577), 1931 (at 41-69,
120-122, 417-423), 1932 (at 41), and
1936 (at 96, 100-102, 155-158,
333-338) ."
=38<
The court, after noting that the gen-
eral power to subpoena witnesses includes
the authority to compel the production of
documents, citing, inter alia, Catty v.
Brockelbank, 124 N.J.L. 360, 12 A.2a 128
(1940), Marston's Inc. v. Strand, 114 Ariz.
260, 560 P.2d 778 (1977), State ex rel.
Pollard v. Marion Crim. Ct., 263 Ind. 236,
329 N.E.2d 573 (1975), concluded that the
Uniform Act should be so interpreted as
"to authorize the issuance of subpoenas
duces tecum."
Similarly, the Supreme Court of New
York in deciding In re Bick, 372 N.Y.S.24
447, 82 Misc. 2d 1043 (1975), said that a
New Jersey Grand Jury's subpoena duces
tecum for books, paper, and business
records that were located in New York
would be honored. The court held that
"the term ‘subpoena’ subsumes a subpoena
-39-
duces tecum requiring the production of
books and records."
Illinois, on the other hand, in In re
Grothe, 59 I1l.App.2d 1, 208 N.E.2d 581
(1965), held that the Uniform Act does not
authorize the issuance of a subpoena duces
tecum. That Illinois case, however, has
since been overruled by statute. See 1965
Tll. Laws at 2694 8 1, effective August 6,
1965. Grothe, we note, was not followed
by the Court of Appeals in Appel v. New
York, 243 Md. 218, 220 A.2d 301, and was
expressly rejected in Application of a
Grand Jury of the State of New York, supra.
Patently, the ability to compel Rees, who
apparently has possession of certain rele-
vant, material evidence, to appear before
the grand jury, but the inability to com-
pel the production of that evidence, bor-
ders on the absurd. Unless Rees was able
-40-
to testify as to the content of discs, a
tape, and printouts, his appearance before
the grand jury would be a decided waste.
We believe the weight of authority to
be clear. The power to issue a subpoena
includes the power to issue a subpoena
duces tecum, and we so hold.
-41-
x
APPENDIX C
RELEVANT PROCEEDINGS OF SEPTEMBER 15,
1983, IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR
BALTIMORE CITY, MARYLAND
(The Court): Very well. All right.
Having conducted the hearing, I am con-
vinced that the Certificate plus the
testimony given here has established that
Mr. Rees is a material and necessary wit-
ness in this Grand Jury proceeding. And
further, that it will not cause him undue
hardship, as I construe that term, to
attend the hearing on September 29, 1983.
On the last issue of whether he should
be ordered to produce certain tangible
evidence at the time he appears, pursuant
to the summons, which is issued, and that
is the issue which is addressed in Grothe,
the Illinois case, which reference was
made, citation to which is 59 Illinois
-42-
Appeal, Second, Page l, 1954 decision, or
whether to view in Grothe or whether to
view in Sapperstein, which is 104 Atlantic
Second, 842. And I don't have a date on
that case. But that is the case In Re:
Sapperstein. These two Courts disagree.
And when it comes down to what proper rule
of statutory construction should be
applied to Section 9-302, Grothe notes,
and I think properly, that certainly this
Statute is in derogation of the common
law. There is no analogous type procedure
ever authorized in common law. But
Sapperstein equally relies on a well
settled rule of construction of statute.
And that is that statutes in aid of comity
between sister states which assists in due
administration of justice should be
liberally construed. So we have a colli-
sion of two rules of construction in a
:
«* ¢
¥ «eae our
Pie | 6 ee Ps Ee
sense here. I think the latter bends in
the more proper direction. I think com-
monly in this State of the circumstances
surrounding this case outweigh the
deviations this statute gives in procedure
from common law procedure. And I think it
should be given a liberal construction.
And I am going to enter the Order duces
tecum and not just ad testificandum. So I
will issue the Order that is prayed.
Misc. No.
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES ye
OCTOBER TERM, 1983 .
JOHN REES,
Appellant,
-¥.=
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
Appellee.
IN RE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
MR. CLERK: e
Please enter my appearance as pro
se counsel in the above-entitled case.
Lh ee
JOHM REES
2806;/St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
301/366-2531
Petitioner Pro Se
-46-
Misc. No.
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1983
JOHN REES,
Appellant,
- Vv. =
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
Appellee.
IN RE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
I HEREBY CERTIFY, that on this 26th day
of March, 1984, copies of the foregoing
Petition for Writ of Certiorari were de-
”
livered to Deborah K. Handel, Esquire,
Assistant Attorney General of Maryland, 7
North Calvert Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore,
Maryland 21202, Attorney for the Respondent,
the State of Maryland.
John Re
2805 sY) Paul Street
2803 Sy) e, MD 21218
301/366-2531
Petitioner Pro Se
-48-
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.