United States v. Sacher

HOLTZOFF, District Judge.

This is a motion by the defendant to dismiss an indictment charging him with contempt of Congress in that he unlawfully refused to answer certain pertinent questions propounded by a Congressional Committee, as set forth in the indictment. It is urged that failure to allege that the refusal was willful, deliberate or intentional is a vital defect in the indictment.

There is no doubt that as a matter of proof it is necessary to show at the trial that the refusal was not inadvertent; that it was intentional and willful, not in the sense that it was necessarily in bad…