40
Opinion of the Court
decision to indict was free from such substantial influence.' " Id., at 903 (quoting Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 487 U. S. 250, 263 (1988)); see 899 F. 2d, at 903-904. Under these circumstances, the Tenth Circuit concluded, it was not an abuse of discretion for the District Court to require the Government to begin anew before the grand jury.1 We
granted certiorari. 502 U. S. 905 (1991).
II
Before proceeding to the merits of this matter, it is necessary to discuss the propriety of reaching them. Certiorari was sought and granted in this case on the following question: "Whether an indictment may be dismissed because the government failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury." The first point discussed in respondent's brief opposing the petition was captioned "The 'Question Presented' in the Petition Was Never Raised Below." Brief in Opposition 3. In granting certiorari, we necessarily considered and rejected that contention as a basis for denying review.
Justice Stevens' dissent, however, revisits that issue, and proposes that—after briefing, argument, and full consideration of the issue by all the Justices of this Court—we now decline to entertain this petition for the same reason we originally rejected, and that we dismiss it as improvidently granted. That would be improvident indeed. Our grant of certiorari was entirely in accord with our traditional practice, though even if it were not it would be imprudent (since there is no doubt that we have jurisdiction to entertain the case) to reverse course at this late stage. See, e. g., Ferguson v. Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., 352 U. S. 521, 560 (1957) (Harlan, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part); Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U. S. 637, 648 (1974) (Stew-1 The Tenth Circuit also rejected Williams' cross-appeal, which contended that the District Court's dismissal should have been with prejudice. See 899 F. 2d, at 904.
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