Doe v. United States

932 F.2d 481, 1991 WL 62520
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 26, 1991
DocketNo. 90-2219
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 932 F.2d 481 (Doe v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. United States, 932 F.2d 481, 1991 WL 62520 (6th Cir. 1991).

Opinions

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

This matter comes before the court on a motion to stay an order granting disclosure of grand jury material gathered in the investigation of a state judge alleged to have engaged in inappropriate dealings with attorneys who practice before him. The sole issue on appeal is whether the district court properly granted the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission’s request for disclosure of all evidence presented to the grand jury that might relate to possible criminal or unethical conduct by a Michigan attorney who, for lack of a better term, we shall refer to as Doe # 1. Because the district court erred in concluding that disclosure to the Commission was “preliminary to or in connection with a judicial proceeding” and in determining that the Commission had demonstrated a particularized need for the evidence requested, we reverse.

This case arises from a federal grand jury convened in Michigan to investigate charges that a state judge has accepted items of value from attorneys in exchange for the favorable consideration of pending cases. Following the United States Attorney’s submission of proof, the grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict. Despite the presumed secrecy of the proceedings, information which raised serious questions as to whether a particular judge violated the canons and ethical standards governing judicial behavior was furnished to the Judicial Tenure Commission. The Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission received similar information regarding potential violations of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards by certain attorneys implicated in the investigation. As a result, both the Judicial Tenure Commission and the Attorney Grievance Commission requested the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to order the release of grand jury evidence, including recorded testimony, exhibits, and documents, to allow each to pursue an independent investigation. The United States filed a response to the Grievance Commission’s request stating that it supported disclosure because the Commission’s need for the information was “greater than the need for absolute secrecy.”

On October 26, 1990, the district court issued a written memorandum opinion and order granting the Grievance Commission’s request. Relying on In the Matter of Electronic Surveillance, 596 F.Supp. 991, 999 [483]*483(E.D.Mich.1984), the court concluded that disclosure was permissible under Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i) of Fed.R.Crim.P. because an investigation by the Grievance Commission was a preliminary to a “judicial proceeding” within the meaning of the 6(e)(3), and because the Commission had demonstrated a particularized need for disclosure. The court granted the Judicial Tenure Commission’s request for disclosure on similar grounds. Doe # 1 filed a motion to stay the disclosure order pending appeal; that motion was granted and notice of appeal was subsequently filed with this court. No notice of appeal has been filled by any individual under investigation by the Judicial Tenure Commission. Accordingly, only the disclosure request submitted by the Grievance Commission is currently before us.

Because the grand jury fills the unique institutional role of both “determining if there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and of protecting citizens against unfounded criminal prosecutions[,]” it is vested with extraordinary investigatory powers not otherwise constitutionally permissible outside this setting. In the Matter of Grand Jury Investigation (Detroit Police Department Special Cash Fund), 922 F.2d 1266, 1269 (6th Cir.1991) (quoting Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 92 S.Ct. 2646, 33 L.Ed.2d 626 (1972) (footnote omitted)). To ensure the grand jury access to full and frank disclosures, and to protect the innocent from grand jury abuse, the principle of grand jury secrecy has long been deeply ingrained in American legal jurisprudence. United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc., 463 U.S. 418, 424, 103 S.Ct. 3133, 3138, 77 L.Ed.2d 743 (1983); United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. 677, 681, 78 S.Ct. 983, 985, 2 L.Ed.2d 1077 (1958); Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. Ernst & Whinney, 921 F.2d 83, 86 (6th Cir.1990). As the Supreme Court has stated, “[i]n the absence of a clear indication in a statute or Rule, we must always be reluctant to conclude that a breach of this secrecy has been authorized.” Sells Engineering, 463 U.S. at 425, 103 S.Ct. at 3138.

Rule 6(e)(2) of Fed.R.Crim.P. codifies the common law rule prohibiting the disclosure of any matters occurring before the grand jury. Fed.R.Crim.P. 6, note to subdivision (e); Sells Engineering, 463 U.S. at 425,103 S.Ct. at 3138. That secrecy, however, is not absolute. Rule 6(e)(3) authorizes five specific exceptions to the general rule of secrecy; only one, Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i), is germane to this controversy. Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i) establishes a two-step standard permitting disclosure of grand jury material otherwise prohibited to a party who demonstrates that (1) the disclosure is sought “preliminarily to or in connection with a judicial proceeding^]” and (2) a compelling need for disclosure exists which will overcome the general presumption in favor of grand jury secrecy.

The restriction on the nature of the proceeding sufficient to trigger disclosure qualifies the kind of need that must be shown, judicial need; the constraint as to the extent of need required for disclosure quantifies that degree of need, a compelling need. Sells Engineering, 463 U.S. at 424, 103 S.Ct. at 3138. The former is a legislative determination reflecting

the judgment that not every beneficial purpose, or even every valid governmental purpose, is an appropriate reason for breaching grand jury secrecy.... The focus is on the actual use to be made of the material. If the primary purpose of disclosure is not to assist in preparation or conduct of a judicial proceeding, disclosure under (C)(i) is not permitted.

United States v. Baggot, 463 U.S. 476, 480, 103 S.Ct. 3164, 3167, 77 L.Ed.2d 785 (1983). The latter is a judicial interpretation that the Rule itself requires more than minimal justification before a breach of secrecy will be permitted even to aid a judicial proceeding. See Douglas Oil Co. v. Petrol Stops Northwest, 441 U.S. 211, 222, 99 S.Ct. 1667, 1674, 60 L.Ed.2d 156 (1979). Both elements are related, but independent, prerequisites to (C)(i) disclosure. Baggot, 463 U.S. at 480, 103 S.Ct. at 3167. We shall address each separately.

[484]*484I. NATURE OF THE COMMISSION PROCEEDINGS

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Bluebook (online)
932 F.2d 481, 1991 WL 62520, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-united-states-ca6-1991.