United States v. Kordel

The FDA had the government file a civil seizure action against two products made by Detroit Vital Foods, Inc. for allegedly violating federal food and drug law. The government served interrogatories on the corporation, then ten days later notified Vital Foods it was also considering criminal charges. Vital Foods sought to stay the civil case or delay answering the interrogatories until the criminal matter concluded, but never actually invoked the Fifth Amendment privilege, and the district court denied the stay, finding no substantial prejudice shown. The corporation and its officers (defendants) were convicted criminally along with the corporation, and the court of appeals reversed, ruling the government improperly used civil interrogatories to gather evidence for the near-simultaneous criminal case. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.