United States v. Armored Transport, Inc., Appellant-Defendant

This appeal presents several issues of first impression in this circuit. The primary question is when does a federal grand jury commence service for the purposes of Rule 6(g), Fed.R.Crim.P., which provides that “no grand jury may serve more than 18 months.” The District Court held that the life of the grand jury is measured from the date on which it is authorized to begin serving, rather than the date on which it is impaneled and sworn. We disagree. For purposes of Rule 6(g) the life of a grand jury commences on the impanelment date. The indictment against Armored Transport was handed down more than eighteen months after the grand jury in this case was impaneled and is invalid.

We decline to reverse Armored Transport’s conviction, however. Because the crimes charged are not infamous within the meaning of the fifth amendment, and because the government could, therefore, have proceeded by information, the conviction is affirmed.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On March 9, 1979, the grand jury [herein, the Martin grand jury] returned an indictment against appellant Armored Transport, Inc. and two of its officers, Irvin and DeSalvo, alleging felony violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15…