HARDEE SLOAN
v.
B. A. BROWN, SHERIFF, ST. LUCIE COUNTY
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This case involves a habeas corpus petition seeking release from a contempt of court judgment. The court held that approaching and discussing a grand jury investigation with a grand juror constituted contempt of court, as it tended to obstruct the administration of justice.
Yes, the petitioner's actions constituted contempt of court. Tampering with or attempting to influence a grand juror, even before the jury reconvenes, is a contempt of court because it tends to obstruct the administration of justice.
“Tampering with a member of a general jury panel, or with members of a jury panel selected to try a case, or with prospective jurors before they are sworn, is universally regarded as a contempt of court to the same extent as tampering with jurors actually sitting in the trial of a case.”
Establishes that tampering with a grand juror is a form of contempt.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe petitioner, Hardie Sloan, was committed for contempt after approaching H. Lionel Meredith, a Grand Juror, and asking him to look out for Sloan's i…
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— This is an original habeas corpus proceeding wherein the petitioner seeks discharge from a commitment under a judgment entered against him by a Judge of the Circuit Court of the Twenty-first Judicial Circuit of Florida in and for St. Lucie County.
It appears from the record that the alleged contemptous conduct for which the petitioner was committed was that the petitioner on the 23rd day of May, 1932, while the Grand Jury in and for St. Lucie County was about to reconvene to investigate' certain matters' pending before the circuit court “did then and there in the City of Fort Pierce, Saint Lucie County, Florida, in front of the Fort Pierce Drug Store, approach one H. Lionel Meredith, a Grand Juror, and did then and there ask the said H. Lionel Meredith, a Grand Juror, to look out for him, the said Hardie Sloan, in any matters to be investigated by the Grand Jury that might involve him, the said Hardie Sloan, and did then *740and there discuss with the said Grand Juror, H. Lionel Meredith, the proposition that if any violation of gambling laws' was investigated by the said Grand Jury, or any other matter that would involve the said Hardie Sloan, for the said H. Lionel Meredith, Grand Juror, to look out for the interests of him, the said Hardie Sloan.
In Wilson v. Joughin, 105 Fla. 353, 141 Sou. 182, we said:
“ ‘When the order or judgment of a court of general jurisdiction committing the petitioner to jail for contempt is collaterally attacked by habeas corpus, every . intendment will be indulged in support of validity of such order or judgment unless the contrary affirmatively appears. It is generally held in such cases that the recitals in the commitment record are conclusive of the facts recited, and a statement filed by the judge as to matters occurring before him is usually regarded as importing absolute verity.' State, ex rel. Grebstein v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 473, 482, 129 So. 818.”
In Baumgartner v. Joughin, 105 Fla. 335, 141 Sou. 185, we said:
“The essential characteristics of an alleged act of contempt such as that here charged, is' its tendency to obstruct the administration of justice. Such a contempt does not depend so much upon the particular intent of the contemnor as upon his act. And while a mere intent to commit a contempt cannot make an act contempt, unless the act done actually tends to obstruct the administration of justice, whether or not an act constitutes a contempt of court is determined by the reasonable tendencies of the act to obstruct the administration of justice. Ex parte Savin, 131 U. S. 267, 33 L. Ed. 150, 9 Sup. Ct. 699; Sinclair v. U. S., 279 U. S. 749, 73 L. Ed. 938, 49 Sup. Ct. 471; 63 A. L. R. 1258.”
*741We also said, in the s'ame case:
“Tampering with a member of a general jury panel, or with members of a jury panel selected to try a case, or with prospective jurors before they are sworn, is universally regarded as a contempt of court to the same extent as tampering with jurors actually sitting in the trial of a case. And it is also generally considered that the act of influencing or corrupting a juror, or attempting the same, need not be committed in the presence of the court, in order to make it punishable as a contempt. Ex parte Cuddy, 131 U. S. 280, 33 L. Ed. 154, 9 Sup. Ct. 703; Marvin v. District Court, 126 Iowa 355, 102 N. W. 119; Coleman v. State, 121 Tenn. 1, 113 S. W. 1045.”
And further, in the same opinion, it is said:
“Cases of tampering, or attempting to tamper, with jurors by approaching them, as was charged in the case at bar, are not within the rule requiring discharge from custody upon denial under oath of an attempt to offend, since the offense, if any, is not one which affects the outward dignity of the court nor the judges in their persons, nor is the intent of the perpetrator the sole element by which the contemptuous nature of what was done is to be determined. If the presence and the overt acts of the alleged contempt are proved or admitted, the offender may be presumed to have intended the ordinary consequences to be implied from his own deliberate act in addressing the juror, or prospective juror, as he did, under circumstances fully known to him, whereby he committed a flagrant breach of propriety, and interfered with the orderly administration of justice. And in such cases the outward facts and the inferences to be drawn therefrom should be ascertained from the testimony in the usual way, under the modern practice now generally ap*742proved in such cases. Coleman v. State, 121 Tenn. 1, 131 S. W. 1045; State, ex rel. Webb v. District Court, supra.”
We think this case is controlled by the enunciation of this Court expressed in the cases of Wilson v. Joughin, supra, and of Baumgartner v. Joughin, supra, and in State, ex rel. Grebstein v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 473, 129 Sou. 818, and that upon authority of the opinions and judgments in these cases, the petitioner should be remanded to the custody of the Sheriff of St. Lucie County to be held under the commitment until discharged according to law.
It is so ordered.
Petitioner remanded.
Whitfield, P. J., and Brown, J., concur.
Davis, C. J., and Ellis and Terrell, J. J., concur in the opinion and judgment.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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State of Fla. ex rel. William Bradford Huie v. Lewis, 80 So. 2d 685 (Fla. 1955)…e, and hinder and embarrass the Court in its legal and lawful operation. Every question presented ■ in this collateral attack upon the proceedings and final judgment of the Circuit Court has been settled by this Court in the case of Sloan v. Brown, 114 Fla. 739, 154 So. 514, and F.S. Section 38.22, F.S.A., hereinafter mentioned. The petition for the writ and all pleadings and briefs by the petitioner show that his conduct and contentions in this case are that he is relying mostly upon a misconception and…
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Hall v. Fla. State Dep't OF Pub. Welf. & Anne Curtwright, 226 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969)…S.1967, F.S.A. . Section 39.11(5) (b), F.S.1967, F.S.A. . Section 39.11(5) (c), F.S.1967, F.S.A. . Section 39.07, F.S.1967, F.S.A. . Jones v. Cochran, Fla.1960, 125 So. 2d 99; Little v. Wainwright, Fla.1964, 161 So. 2d 213; Sloan v. Brown, 1934, 114 Fla. 739, 154 So. 514; Griswold v. State, 1919, 77 Fla. 505, 82 So. 44; State v. Cline, 1926, 91 Fla. 300, 107 So. 446; Baumgartner v. Joughin, 1932, 105 Fla. 335, 141 So. 185; State ex rel. Williams v. Coleman, 1938, 131 Fla. 872, 180 So. 360; State ex rel.…
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Irven Lee Dawkins v. State, 208 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1968)…criticism of the kind found in Pennekamp and Wood, supra.” Efforts to influence a grand jury in its deliberations respecting specific matters under investigation by it are not shielded by the constitutional right of free speech. In Sloan v. Brown, 114 Fla. 739, 154 So. 514, our Supreme Court held that the appellant was properly held to be in contempt of court for approaching a member of the grand jury and asking him to “look out for him * * * in any matters to be investigated by the Grand Jury that might…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Savin, 131 U.S. 267 (U.S. 1889)
- Sinclair v. United States, 279 U.S. 749 (U.S. 1929)
- Cuddy, 131 U.S. 280 (U.S. 1889)
- Baumgartner v. Joughin, 105 Fla. 335 (Fla. 1932)
- State v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 481 (Fla. 1930)
- Wilson v. Joughin, 105 Fla. 353 (Fla. 1932)
- State v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 473 (Fla. 1930)