In Re: Grand Jury Subpoenas, Jane Roe and John Doe. Intervenor v. United States

144 F.3d 653, 98 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2504, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 9858, 1998 WL 247705
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 1998
Docket97-3120
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 144 F.3d 653 (In Re: Grand Jury Subpoenas, Jane Roe and John Doe. Intervenor v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit 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 Subpoenas, Jane Roe and John Doe. Intervenor v. United States, 144 F.3d 653, 98 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2504, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 9858, 1998 WL 247705 (10th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

Intervenor-Appellant 1 appeals from the district court’s order compelling the testimony of two attorneys, John Doe and Jane Roe, before a federal grand jury. He argues that the district court erred by: (1) applying the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege to compel the attorneys’ testimony; (2) applying the exception too broadly and refusing to review the questions to be asked of the attorneys before the grand jury; (3) refusing to disclose or to allow rebuttal of the government’s in camera, ex parte showing that the crime-fraud exception applied; and (4) prohibiting the attorneys from invoking Intervenor’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The government challenges Intervenor’s standing to bring the present appeal. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Intervenor, several hospitals, doctors, and others are targets of an ongoing federal grand jury investigation. The Hospital, which employed Intervenor as President and Chief Executive Officer during the relevant time periods, responded to the grand jury’s subpoenas duces tecum by producing numerous documents, some of which implicated the use of attorneys John Doe and Jane Roe to effectuate the crimes. Doe and Roe provided legal services to The Hospital during the time of the alleged criminal activity. The Hospital and Intervenor also sought the advice of other attorneys after the FBI initiated its investigation in 1992.

The grand jury issued subpoenas seeking the testimony of Doe and Roe before it on January 21, 1997. The Hospital, Doe, and Roe moved, on January 16, 1997, to quash the subpoenas because of the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine (referred to hereinafter as “privileges” for convenience) and because the testimony would violate The Hospital’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel. That same day, Intervenor moved to intervene and to quash the subpoenas, asserting the privileges on the basis of his relationship with the attorneys in his individual capacity, independent of the attorneys’ relationship with The Hospital and its officers in their official capacities. On January 30,1997, the government filed a response to the motions, arguing, inter alia, that the parties had failed to prove entitlement to the privileges, that The Hospital’s production of documents waived the privileges, and that *657 the crime-fraud exception vitiates the privileges. In support of its position, the government simultaneously filed an in camera, ex parte good faith statement of evidence as to the alleged criminal activity, which Doe, Roe, The Hospital, and Intervenor have not been permitted to view.

The district court conducted a hearing on the motions on February 24, 1997. The court granted Intervenor’s motion to intervene, but found that the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applied because the government had established a prima facie case that The Hospital had engaged in criminal or fraudulent conduct, which was furthered by the aid of Roe and Doe. The court accordingly denied the motions to quash, subject to further development of the record, including specific questions and answers before the grand jury. The court refused to permit movants to view the government’s good faith statement of evidence or to conduct a separate hearing at which movants could attempt to rebut the evidence, although the court did allow counsel for Intervenor to present arguments intended to rebut the prima facie showing.

On March 19, 1997, Ms. Roe appeared before the grand jury and asserted the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine in response to virtually every question asked of her. She also vicariously raised Intervenor’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at his request. Mr. Doe appeared before the grand jury on April 2, 1997, and did the same.' On March 25, 1997, the government moved to compel Ms. Roe’s testimony, and it orally moved to compel Mr. Doe’s testimony on April 2, 1997. Mr. Doe and Ms. Roe responded to the motion to compel, and The Hospital and Intervenor moved to intervene.

The court conducted hearings on the motions on April 2 and 7,1997, during which the court heard the testimony of Mr. Doe, Ms. Roe, and Intervenor regarding any attorney-client relationship between the attorneys and Intervenor in his individual capacity. The court granted both motions to intervene because “for purposes of the motion to intervene, ... the attorney-client privilege has been sufficiently established, and the Court would find that at relevant times [Ms. Roe and Mr. Doe] were providing joint representation to [The Hospital and to Intervenor].” Appellee’s Supplemental App. at 305.

At the April 7, 1997, hearing, the government presented further in camera, ex parte evidence of the involvement of Ms. Roe and Mr. Doe in the criminal activity. The district court found that the crime-fraud exception applied, and the court orally sustained the government’s motion to compel the testimony of Ms. Roe and Mr. Doe. The Hospital and Intervenor indicated their intent to file an appeal and moved to stay the proceedings pending the appeal. Subsequently, on May 1, 1997, the court entered its written order (1) sustaining the'motion to compel testimony of Ms. Roe and Mr. Doe; (2) overruling Intervenor’s request that Ms. Roe and Mr. Doe be allowed to assert Intervenor’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; and (3) granting the motion to stay pending appeal. Intervenor appeals the first two decisions. 2

DISCUSSION

In general, the granting of a motion to compel testimony is interlocutory in nature and is not an appealable order. In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Company X), 857 F.2d 710, 711 (10th Cir.1988). The present case, however, comes within an exception to that general rule as announced in Perlman v. United States, 247 U.S. 7, 38 S.Ct. 417, 62 L.Ed. 950 (1918). Because Doe and Roe have indicated their intent to comply with the order rather than risk contempt, the order is appealable and we have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Company X), 857 F.2d at 711-12; In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Vargas), 723 F.2d 1461, 1466 (10th Cir.1983); see also United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 690-91, *658 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974); In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated December 7 and 8, 40 F.3d 1096, 1099 (10th Cir.1994).

I. Attorney-Client Privilege and Standing

The government argues that Intervenor lacks standing to bring this appeal because he was never a client of Doe or Roe in his individual capacity, and, therefore, he cannot assert the attorney-client privilege.

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144 F.3d 653, 98 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2504, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 9858, 1998 WL 247705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-grand-jury-subpoenas-jane-roe-and-john-doe-intervenor-v-united-ca10-1998.