UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

1. In response to a summons, petitioner appeared before a Senate Committee investigating crime. Answering without objection questions asked on behalf of the Committee, he confessed to having run a gambling business in Maryland.

Held: under 18 U.S.C. § 3486, his testimony before the Committee was inadmissible in his trial in a state court for a gambling offense, and his conviction based on such evidence is reversed. Pp. 347 U. S. 179-183.

(a) Petitioners failure to claim a constitutional privilege against self-incrimination did not deprive him of the statutory protection afforded by § 3486. Pp. 347 U. S. 180-181.

(b) Section 3486 applies to criminal proceedings in state courts, as well as federal courts. Pp. 347 U. S. 181-182.

(c) Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U. S. 547, in no way impairs the protection afforded congressional witnesses by § 3486. Pp. 347 U. S. 182-183.

2. As thus construed, § 3486 does not exceed the constitutional power of Congress. P. 347 U. S. 183.

202 Md. 455, 97 A.2d 281, reversed.