Doe v. Bell

367 F. Supp. 3d 966
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 5, 2019
DocketCase No. 4:15 CV 6 RWS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 367 F. Supp. 3d 966 (Doe v. Bell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. Bell, 367 F. Supp. 3d 966 (E.D. Mo. 2019).

Opinion

RODNEY W. SIPPEL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*969Plaintiff Grand Juror Doe (Juror)2 seeks a declaratory judgment that Missouri laws criminalizing Juror's disclosure of information about her experience as a juror on a State of Missouri grand jury are unconstitutional as applied. Juror alleges that if these Missouri statutes are enforced it will violate her free speech rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Defendant St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney has moved to dismiss the complaint on numerous grounds. Because the complaint fails to state a claim I will grant the motion to dismiss.

Background

Plaintiff Juror began serving as a grand juror for the Circuit Court of St. Louis County on May 7, 2014. That grand jury's term of service was originally set to expire on September 10, 2014. On August 9, 2014, while on duty as a police officer for the City of Ferguson, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown. Robert McCulloch, the Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County at the time, presented the matter to the grand jury to decide whether there was probable cause to believe Officer Wilson violated any Missouri state criminal laws in the death of Mr. Brown. The St. Louis County Circuit Court extended the term of the grand jury from September 10, 2014 to January 7, 2015 to allow the grand jury to consider the Wilson matter.

The Prosecuting Attorney's staff presented evidence regarding the case to the grand jury over a several week period. On November 24, 2014, upon completion of their investigation of the Wilson matter, the grand jury returned a "no true bill" declining to indict Officer Wilson. During his announcement of the grand jury's decision, McCulloch made public statements at a press conference about the jury's investigation and its decision not to issue an indictment. McCulloch also released evidence presented to the grand jury, including transcripts, reports, interviews, and forensic evidence. However, the transcripts and documents were redacted in a manner to keep secret the identities of the grand jurors, witnesses, and other persons connected to the investigation. In addition, McCulloch did not release the votes or deliberations of the grand jury.

Plaintiff Juror's complaint alleges that, from her perspective, the Prosecuting Attorney's presentation of the evidence in the Wilson matter to the grand jury was markedly different from "hundreds of matters presented to the grand jury earlier in its term." Juror alleges that the "State's counsel" to the grand jury "differed markedly and in significant ways from the State's counsel" in hundreds of previous matters; the investigation had a stronger emphasis on the victim than in other cases; and, the "presentation of the law to which the grand jurors were to apply the facts was made in a muddled and untimely manner."

Juror alleges that McCulloch's statements at the press conference "characterizes the views of the grand jury collectively toward the evidence, witnesses, and the law, in a manner that does not comport with [Juror's] own opinions."

Juror now wants to speak out about her experience as a grand juror and to express opinions about the evidence and the investigation in the Wilson matter in particular, and about other grand jury cases generally for the purpose of comparison. Juror wants to comment on whether McCulloch's release of records and statements at the press conference accurately reflected the grand jurors' views of the evidence and *970witnesses in the Wilson matter. Juror also wants to express the view that the evidence and law were presented differently in the Wilson matter than Juror had experienced in other cases presented to the grand jury. Juror asserts that her motivation behind these proposed disclosures is to "aid in educating the public about how grand juries function" and to use Juror's "own experiences to advocate for legislative change to the way grand juries are conducted in Missouri."

Juror alleges that four State of Missouri statutes have a "chilling effect" which imposes a limitation on her speech. The statutes cited by Juror are Missouri Revised Statutes sections 540.080, 540.120, 540.310, and 540.320. Juror seeks a declaratory judgment that "Missouri laws criminalizing speech by [Juror], about [Juror's] experiences as a state grand juror for the investigation of the [Wilson matter], are unconstitutional as applied." Juror asserts that her free speech rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution override the oath of secrecy she took as a grand juror, and, as a result, void any Missouri state statute which would criminalize Juror's proposed speech regarding the grand jury's proceedings.

The Prosecuting Attorney moved to dismiss the complaint on several grounds, including the doctrine of abstention. I granted the motion to abstain to allow Juror to seek relief in state court on state law grounds to avoid the necessity of ruling her federal First Amendment claim.3 This case was stayed until Juror resolved her state law claims.

Juror subsequently filed a lawsuit in the St. Louis County Circuit Court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief which the circuit court denied. [Doc. # 8, Ex. A, Grand Juror Doe v. McCulloch, No. 15SL-CC01891, 2016 WL 9000971 (Mo. Cir. Ct. December 13, 2016) ] Juror's state court petition alleged three counts. [Doc. # 89, Ex. A, Pl.'s Pet.] In Count I, she alleged a claim under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the same cause of action she asserted in this Court. In Count II, Juror sought a declaration that § 540.320 R.S.Mo.,4 (a statute that bars grand jurors from revealing evidence presented to the grand jury or the name of any witness who appeared before them), was no longer applicable or valid as applied to Juror. In Count III, Juror sought a court order declaring that Juror is relieved from the oath she took, under § 540.080 R.S.Mo., to keep the grand jury proceedings secret. Juror expressly stated in the petition that she did not want the state court to rule her First Amendment claim and that she was reserving that claim in the event she returned to federal court. Juror reserved her First Amendment claim under an England reservation. England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, 375 U.S. 411, 421-422, 84 S.Ct. 461, 11 L.Ed.2d 440 (1964) (allowing a federal claim to be held in abeyance and *971reserved for future litigation in federal court after a state court has resolved state law claims).

In her state court petition Juror asserted that her speech regarding her experiences and opinions about her grand jury service was chilled by three Missouri statutes.5

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Related

Grand Juror Doe v. Wesley Bell
969 F.3d 883 (Eighth Circuit, 2020)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
367 F. Supp. 3d 966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-bell-moed-2019.