PLATT, CHIEF JUDGE, U.S. DISTRICT COURT, v. MINNESOTA MINING & MANUFACTURING CO., 376 U.S. 240

Summary

Respondent, criminal antitrust defendant, filed a motion pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 21(b) to transfer prosecution to another district. The trial court denied the motion on grounds of convenience, expense and early trial, together with the fact that it would be difficult for petitioner government to get a fair and impartial jury in a new district. Respondent petitioned for a writ of mandamus directing transfer. The court of appeals granted the writ and ordered the case transferred because the trial court should not have considered the government's ability to get a fair jury. Petitioner sought a writ of certiorari. The court granted the petition, and reversed and remanded for further consideration by the trial court, holding that the trial court's consideration of an improper factor did not empower the court of appeals to consider the motion de novo, but that it should have remanded the case for the trial court to consider the appropriate factors.