In re Grand Jury Investigation of New Vrindaban, Inc.

687 F. Supp. 1032, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5432, 1988 WL 57969
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedJune 7, 1988
DocketMisc. No. 87-323-E
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 687 F. Supp. 1032 (In re Grand Jury Investigation of New Vrindaban, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Grand Jury Investigation of New Vrindaban, Inc., 687 F. Supp. 1032, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5432, 1988 WL 57969 (N.D.W. Va. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MAXWELL, Chief Judge.

The Court has received a Motion to Re-cuse Chief Judge Robert Earl Maxwell pursuant to the provisions of Title 28, United States Code, Section 455(a).1 After a careful review of the record in this case, including submitted memoranda of law and supporting affidavits, the Court believes the Motion is ripe for disposition.

To fully address the legal arguments raised by the Government, it is imperative that the Court first detail the background and facts that are interrelated in this case and associated matters.

On or about July 3, 1987, the New Vrindaban Community filed a Motion to Disqualify the United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia and his staff from further investigating the New Vrindaban Community, asking that the U.S. Department of Justice and/or the Court appoint an independent prosecutor to continue the investigation in a fair and impartial manner. That motion initiated the above-styled miscellaneous proceeding in which the Government’s motion for recu-sal is now pending. The Court held an evidentiary hearing on the matter on November 4, 1987. James B. Lees, Jr., has represented the New Vrindaban Community throughout this proceeding.

Just prior to the filing of said Motion, William F. Weld, then Assistant Attorney General of the United States, wrote to the Court, by letter dated April 8, 1987, requesting the convening of a special grand jury, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3331. The Court responded to this request by letter dated April 14, 1987, questioning whether a special grand jury was indeed needed in light of the fact that a regular grand jury, requested by the United States Attorney, was scheduled to be impanelled in the near future.

By letter dated May 20, 1987, then Assistant Attorney General Weld again communicated with the Court certifying that a special grand jury was needed in the Northern District of West Virginia to investigate organized crime. A formal motion to convene a special grand jury was subsequently filed by the U.S. Attorney and the case was formally docketed. In Re: Empanelling a Special Grand Jury (Misc. No. 87-317-E). Once again, the Court responded by letter dated June 10, 1987, questioning whether a special grand jury was needed and noting that a regular grand jury was currently functioning in the District. It was further noted that reducing the number of grand juries was a means of budgetary savings recommended by the Judicial Conference through the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

By letter dated June 26, 1987, Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Kee-ney provided the Court with a third certification that a special grand jury was needed. By Order entered July 31, 1987, the Court took “under advisement the matters raised and suggested in the earlier filed motions and the above mentioned correspondence.”

On December 9, 1987, the United States filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, requesting that this Court be directed to impanel a special grand jury pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3331. The Fourth Circuit directed that this Court file a response to the petition in accordance with Rule 21(b), Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

[1034]*1034After numerous consultations with and advice from the General Counsel of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and a studied review of the allegations of the Petition and provisions of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ Local Rule 21, James B. Lees was requested to respond to the Petition for Mandamus, as directed by order of the Fourth Circuit. The response, as filed, submitted that 18 U.S.C. § 3331 creates an unconstitutional delegation of authority, or, in the alternative, if the Section were determined to be constitutional, that the District Court’s inherent authority, in light of the record of continuing regular grand juries in the District, extends to review of the validity and necessity of impanelling a special grand jury. Possible ambiguity of the statutory language, as it was sought to be applied in this instance, was also a matter of concern.

Ultimately, the Fourth Circuit found the statute constitutional and unambiguous in its stated purpose and concluded that the proper action for the district court when presented with a certification of need pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3331(a) is to summon the special grand jury. The Court noted:

Although a sitting grand jury is an appendage of the court under whose supervision it is summoned, Brown v. United States, 359 U.S. 41, 49 [79 S.Ct. 539, 545, 3 L.Ed.2d 609] (1959), the authority to call the grand jury in the first instance is not within the inherent power of the district court. Simply stated, a grand jury is a “creature of statute.” In re Mills, 135 U.S. 263 [10 S.Ct. 762, 34 L.Ed. 107] (1890). The authority of the court is thus subject to the specific limitation of rules and statutes. See e.g. United States v. Christian, 660 F.2d 892 (3d Cir.1981).
By enacting 18 U.S.C. § 3331(a), Congress has determined that special grand juries shall be empanelled whenever certain specified conditions are met. Contrary to respondent’s view, we do not find the statute’s certification process to be an unconstitutional delegation of authority to the executive branch. Rather, the procedure is simply Congress’ chosen method of implementing its will. No undue discretion is placed in the hands of the executive branch and no intrusion into inherently judicial prerogatives is contemplated.
In Re: IN RE EMPANELLING A SPECIAL GRAND JURY, 842 F.2d 1290 (4th Cir.1988).

On April 27, 1988, this Court directed the Government to advise the Court of its anticipated usage of the special grand jury. Pursuant to the Court’s Order, the United States Attorney advised the Court that it required the services of the special grand jury for two sessions of three days’ duration and thereafter as further sessions are needed, as determined by the grand jurors. By Order entered May 11, 1988, this Court directed the Clerk of Court to summon potential jurors from which a special grand jury would be impanelled, to convene on June 8, through June 10, 1988, and July 6 through July 8, 1988.

On March 24, 1988, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia filed the Motion to Recuse now under consideration by the Court. In support of its Motion, the Government essentially asserts that this Court has created a conflict of interest by requesting that James B.

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687 F. Supp. 1032, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5432, 1988 WL 57969, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-grand-jury-investigation-of-new-vrindaban-inc-wvnd-1988.