In Re Grand Jury Proceedings (Daewoo)

613 F. Supp. 672, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18824
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJune 18, 1985
DocketMisc. 84-217-PA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 613 F. Supp. 672 (In Re Grand Jury Proceedings (Daewoo)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon 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 Proceedings (Daewoo), 613 F. Supp. 672, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18824 (D. Or. 1985).

Opinion

PANNER, Chief Judge.

On March 12, 1984, a Federal Grand Jury in Portland, Oregon returned a thirty-two count indictment charging defendants with violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 332, 371, 1001, and 1503 in connection with the importation of steel from South Korea into the United States during 1980-82. The term of this *676 grand jury is now ended. Then Chief Judge James M. Burns granted defendants’ motion for a change of venue to the Central District of California, 591 F.Supp. 157. On January 3, 1985 a superseding information was filed and Daewoo-Korea and Daewoo-America pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements with respect to steel importations into Portland. DaewooAmerica pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by altering records submitted to the grand jury.

In 1983 Daewoo was issued a civil penalty notice by the Customs Service for $6,725,386 for violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1592. In January, 1985 pre-penalty notices were issued to Daewoo for $9,483,544. These were changed to penalty notices on February 20, 1985. The government states that during much of the period of the criminal investigation (involving periods from 1982 to 1985) the Customs Service deferred civil penalty action pending resolution of the criminal case. The government asserts that it was forced to abandon this policy when Daewoo refused to waive the civil limitation period pending completion of the criminal case. At the time the government filed its ex parte motions, Daewoo had not waived the civil limitations period. However, on March 15, 1985, Daewoo filed a waiver extending the statute of limitations from June, 1985 to March, 1986. Customs granted Daewoo the right to file for mitigation before Customs.

On January 22, 1985 the United States filed an ex parte motion requesting the disclosure of the transcripts of testimony before the grand jury which indicted Daewoo and for documents and other information produced during the criminal investigation of Daewoo. On February 1, 1985, I granted the government’s motion for ex parte disclosure of the transcripts, but refused to grant the motion for disclosure of the documents until the other parties were given an opportunity to respond. On March 28, 1985 I ordered that no material disclosed pursuant to my February 1, 1985 order or evidence derived from that material should be used by the government in any civil enforcement action against Van Leeuwen Pipe and Tube Corporation, Murray Pacific Metals, Gulf Consolidated Services, or Maruichi American Corporation unless obtained by the government pursuant to separate proceedings or by voluntary disclosure. These corporations withdrew any opposition to the February 1, 1985 disclosure order as amended.

Daewoo International America Corp. and Daewoo Industrial Co., Ltd. request vacation of my February 1, 1985 order granting the government’s request for disclosure of the transcripts; a return of these transcripts to the grand jury along with all copies of them and all notes or documents reflecting their contents; an injunction prohibiting those with possession or knowledge of the contents of the transcripts from any further disclosure of them or their contents to anyone not on the Fed.R. Crim.P. 6(e) lists; an injunction prohibiting the government from involving any employees who were provided with these transcripts or who have knowledge of them in any further investigation or litigation concerning Daewoo; and denial of the government’s motion requesting disclosure of documents.

For reasons discussed below, I vacate my order allowing disclosure of the transcripts to the government and order their return along with all copies and notes concerning them to the grand jury and enjoin anyone with possession of them or knowledge of their contents from any further disclosure of them or their contents to anyone not on the Fed.R.Crim.P. 6(e) lists. I deny Daewoo’s motion for recusal of Customs employees. I rule on the disclosure of individual categories of documents separately below.

I note that the Department of Justice, not the Customs Service, is requesting this disclosure. Some courts have declined disclosure under such circumstances because the requesting party is not the one to use the documents. See In re Doe, 537 F.Supp. 1038, 1040 (D.R.I.1982).

REQUIREMENTS FOR DISCLOSURE PURSUANT TO FED.R.CRIM.P.

6(e)(3)(C)(i)

Fed.R.Crim.P. 6(e)(3)(C)(i) provides:

*677 Disclosure otherwise prohibited by this rule of matters occurring before the grand jury may also be made when so directed by a court preliminary to or in connection with a judicial proceeding.

Both parties in the present case agree that, to the extent the government’s disclosure requests are governed by any Rule of Criminal Procedure, Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i) is the applicable rule. In order to be governed by Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i), a matter must first be a matter occurring before the grand jury. The disclosure must be made preliminary to or in connection with a judicial proceeding. A strong showing of particularized need for these materials must be made before any disclosure will be permitted. United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc., 463 U.S. 418, 103 S.Ct. 3133, 3148, 77 L.Ed.2d 743 (1983). I will discuss each of these requirements as they relate first to the request for disclosure of transcripts and then to the request for disclosure of documents.

I. DISCLOSURE OF THE GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPTS.

A. Matter Occurring Before The Grand Jury.

Neither party disputes that the grand jury transcripts reflect matters occurring before the grand jury.

B. Preliminary To Or In Connection With A Judicial Proceeding.

In United States v. Baggot, 463 U.S. 476, 103 S.Ct. 3164, 77 L.Ed.2d 785 (1983), the Court held that an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation to determine a taxpayer’s civil tax liability was not preliminary to or in connection with a judicial proceeding within the meaning of Fed.R. Crim.P. 6. Therefore, disclosure under Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i) was not permitted.

The Court stated that in determining whether disclosure is requested preliminary to a judicial proceeding, the focus must be on the actual use of the material.

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613 F. Supp. 672, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-grand-jury-proceedings-daewoo-ord-1985.