United States v. John Allen Powers William Nichols, Contemnor/appellant

INTRODUCTION

This is an appeal from a ninety-day criminal contempt sentence. Contemnor William Nichols argues that the district court exceeded its authority under Fed.R.Crim.P. 42 by incarcerating him without bail pending a contempt hearing and by holding the contempt hearing two days after conclusion of the trial. Our review of the record convinces us that the district court confused the various forms of contempt proceedings. We find, however, that the court’s actions were all part of one criminal contempt proceedings and that any resulting confusion did not prejudice Nichols’ notice of a criminal contempt charge or his ability to prepare a defense. We affirm.

FACTS

William Nichols was called as a witness in a criminal case. When called to the stand to testify on September 12, 1979, Nichols refused to answer any questions on the ground that his testimony might incriminate him. The government offered Nichols immunity, which the court characterized as “transactional”. The government’s offer of immunity at that point in the trial was rejected by the court. The prosecutor lacked authority to grant the immunity.

On September 14 the government filed a motion to compel the testimony…