Federal Courts: Rule 20 of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: Constitutionality

One of the few real innovations in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is incorporated in Rule 20 which provides that a defendant who is arrested in a district other than that in which the indictment has been returned may declare in writing his desire to plead guilty and waive trial in the district of the crime. In this event, with the approval of the United States Attornies for both districts, the clerk of the court to which the indictment was returned is authorized to forward the papers to the clerk of the court for the district in which the accused is held for disposition of the case. The purpose was to provide the defendant a means of avoiding the hardship often involved in returning to the district of the crime for trial. In a recent case an indictment for forgery was returned into the district court for the district of South Dakota. The accused, having been arrested in Oregon, and having followed the procedure authorized by Rule 20, entered a plea of guilty in the district court for the district of Oregon. The court refused to accept the plea on the ground that it was without jurisdiction.