Hurtado v. United States

1973-03-05

Headline: Court limits $20 daily witness fee to days a jailed material witness is held during an active trial, leaving pretrial detention compensated only at $1 per day nationwide.

Holding: The Court held that a person jailed as a material witness is entitled to the $20 daily witness fee for each day they are detained during a trial or proceeding, but not for pretrial detention.

Real World Impact:

Requires $20 per day pay for detained witnesses during active trials.
Leaves pretrial detention compensation at $1 per day unless Congress acts.
Remands for fact-finding and possible class action determination.

Topics: witness compensation, material witnesses, pretrial detention, federal courts

Summary

Background

A group of Mexican nationals held in custody because they could not post bail while promised as material witnesses sued the United States. They said federal law required the government to pay $20 per day for each day they were kept available to testify, plus $1 per day for jail subsistence, or else the $1 rate violated the Fifth Amendment. Lower courts sided with the Government, which paid $1 per day during pretrial detention and $20 only for days the witness actually attended court.

Reasoning

The Court read the witness-pay law to require two things for the $20 payment: (1) a court must be in session for which the witness was summoned, and (2) the witness must be in necessary attendance or otherwise available to the court. The majority rejected both the petitioners’ broad reading that every day of custody counts and the Government’s narrow reading that required physical presence in the courtroom. It held jailed material witnesses are entitled to $20 for each day of confinement while the trial or proceeding is underway, but not for days of pretrial detention before the court convenes. The Court also rejected the petitioners’ constitutional claims that $1 per day was an unlawful taking or a denial of due process.

Real world impact

The decision requires the government to pay detained witnesses $20 per day for days during trials or proceedings when they are held available, but leaves pretrial detention compensation at $1 per day. The Court vacated the appeals court judgment and sent the case back for fact-finding (including whether petitioners had been paid for days they actually testified) and for the district court to consider class certification.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan argued the majority’s split rule is unfair and that pretrial custody should earn the $20 fee; Justice Douglas viewed the scheme as economically discriminatory against indigent detained witnesses and would have ordered broader relief.