The United States of America v. Frank Fee Fong

We affirm Fong’s conviction of making a false declaration before a grand jury [ 18 U.S.C. § 1623 ], and hold that the district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, after an evidentiary hearing, was not clearly erroneous and that the court properly denied development of an entrapment defense. Because it was not raised below, we do not consider whether the prosecution must advise a defendant of a right to recant. [ 18 U.S.C. § 1623 (d).]

Appellant argues essentially: (1) the testimony obtained at the grand jury, giving rise to the perjury prosecution, should have been suppressed because it was obtained in violation of due process; (2) the district court erred by disallowing the development of an “entrapment” defense at trial.

FACTS

During 1973 the San Francisco Police Department cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the investigation of gambling and police corruption in the Chinatown area of San Francisco. In the course of the investigation, appellant Fong gave funds on a regular basis to undercover local police officers, apparently to induce them to restrict police interference with gambling activities.

On September 6, 1973 a federal grand jury…