Stanley Steinert v. United States District Court for the District of Nevada

This is a petition for a writ of mandamus to quash an order for removal. We deny the petition.

FACTS

Petitioner Steinert has been under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for several years. In 1975, Steinert was ordered by the District Court for the Eastern District of California to appear before an I.R.S. agent. He failed to do so.

A complaint was then issued by the United States Attorney charging Steinert with violating 18 U.S.C. § 401 (criminal contempt) for his failure to comply with the court’s order. However, the complaint erroneously cited § 402 as the basis for the contempt. A Grand Jury later returned an indictment to the same effect.

Steinert was located in Nevada and arrested pursuant to a warrant issued by the District Court for the Eastern District of California. A removal hearing was held before a United States magistrate in Reno, Nevada, pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 40(b) and Steinert was ordered removed to California. He now challenges this removal order.

VALIDITY OF THE INDICTMENT

In the indictment, the government incorrectly cited 18 U.S.C. § 402 instead of 18 U.S.C. § 401 . Petitioner argues that this error is a ground for dismissal. This…