State of Iowa v. Andrew Lee Russell

897 N.W.2d 717, 2017 WL 2705393, 2017 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 74
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJune 23, 2017
Docket16–0807
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 897 N.W.2d 717 (State of Iowa v. Andrew Lee Russell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Iowa v. Andrew Lee Russell, 897 N.W.2d 717, 2017 WL 2705393, 2017 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 74 (iowa 2017).

Opinion

ZAGER, Justice.

In this interlocutory appeal, Andrew Russell asserts' the right to serve ex parte subpoenas duces tecum 1 upon third parties under the rules of. criminal and civil procedure without providing notice to the State. Additionally, Russell asserts that denying him the right to issue ex parte subpoenas duces tecum denies him the constitutional rights to the effective assistance of counsel, compulsory process, and due process under the United States and Iowa Constitutions. The State filed a motion to regulate discovery that would prevent the defendant from issuing an investigatory subpoena duces tecum except in three circumstances: (1) by express agreement of the parties, (2) to a witness for a deposition with notice to all parties, or (3) to a witness for a trial or court hearing. After a hearing, the district court found there was no statutory or constitutional authority to support Russell’s position that he had a right to issue ex parte subpoenas duces tecum. The district court also ordered counsel for the defendant to provide notice to the State before serving any subpoenas duces tecum on third parties. Russell sought interlocutory review and a stay, which we granted and retained. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Because this case comes before us on a motion for interlocutory review on a discovery dispute, only the procedural history is relevant.

On December 4, 2015, the State charged defendant Andrew RusSell with one count of child endangerment in violation of Iowa Code section 726.6A (2015)'. On March 15, 2016, the State filed’a motion to regulate discovery and requested that the district court enter an order prohibiting Russell *722 from issuing ex parte subpoenas duces te-cum. In the motion, the State requested that the district court order defense counsel not to “serve or deliver any subpoena upon any person or entity” except in three situations: (1) the express agreement of the parties, (2) to a witness for a deposition with notice to all parties, or (3) to a witness for trial or hearing.

Russell resisted the motion and requested a hearing. At the hearing, Russell argued that under the Iowa rules of criminal and civil procedure, he had the right to issue subpoenas without the necessity of subpoenaing a witness to a hearing or trial, and without notice to the State. Russell further argued that granting the State’s motion would violate his right to the effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 10 of the Iowa Constitution; his right to compulsory process; and his due process rights under the United States Constitution and article I, section 9 of the Iowa Constitution.

The district court set the matter for hearing on April 11. After the hearing, the district court granted the State’s motion and issued a protective order stating that Russell’s counsel was

prohibited from issuing any subpoena except to secure the attendance of a witness listed as a witness by the State at a deposition on notice to all parties pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.13(1); to secure the attendance of a witness not listed by the State by order of the Court pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.13(2); to secure the attendance of a witness at trial or other court proceedings pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.13(2). The Defendant may also attach a request for documents, subpoena duces tecum, pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.15(2), provided the subpoena also requests the witness’s attendance in the above-prescribed manner.

The district court found that there was no authority to support Russell’s position whether statutory, rule-based, or in caselaw. The district court noted that its decision did not prevent Russell from obtaining information to support an investigation, nor did it require him to show his hand prematurely. Russell applied for interlocutory review which we granted and retained.

II. Standing.

Russell argues the State does not have standing to object because it is not “injuriously affected” by the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum to a third party as part of a defendant’s investigation to build a defense. Because the third party possesses the records and not the State, the State is not injured by the subpoena. The State responds it does have standing to object because the third party’s refusal to produce documents or the third party’s deliverance of documents may impact the State’s ability to bring the defendant to trial within the limits of speedy trial requirements.

Our general rule for a party to have standing to object is whether the party was “prejudiced by the claimed error.” Mundy v. Warren, 268 N.W.2d 213, 218 (Iowa 1978). Other courts have described the test for standing to quash a subpoena. “A party has standing to move to quash a subpoena addressed to another if the subpoena infringes upon the mov-ant’s legitimate interests.” United States v. Raineri, 670 F.2d 702, 712 (7th Cir. 1982). In such a situation, “[tjhe prosecution’s standing rest[s] upon its interest in preventing undue lengthening of the trial [and] undue harassment of its witness .... ” Id.; see also Schreibvogel v. State, 228 P.3d 874, 880 (Wyo. 2010).

*723 Other courts have decided whether the State has standing to challenge the issuance of subpoena duces tecum. The majority approach for courts interpreting Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c) 2 or their own similar rules is to find the State does have standing. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Lam, 444 Mass. 224, 827 N.E.2d 209, 218 (Mass. 2005).

In Lam, the State objected to the defendant’s issuance of subpoenas duces tecum and the defendant argued the State lacked standing. 827 N.E.2d at 213. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts noted it would follow the majority approach and found

[t]he Commonwealth, charged with prosecuting the case, will often be able to assist a judge in determining whether a motion under rule 17(a)(2) involves an improper “fishing expedition.” The Commonwealth, of course, also has an interest in preventing unnecessary harassment of a complainant and other Commonwealth witnesses caused by burdensome, frivolous, or otherwise improper discovery requests. A complainant or witness should be forced neither to retain counsel nor to appear before a court in order to challenge, on the basis of a partial view of the case, potentially impermissible examination of her personal effects and the records of her personal interactions.

Id. at 213-14 (citation omitted).

In State v. DeCaro, the Connecticut Supreme Court held the State had standing to move to quash a defendant’s subpoena duces tecum. 252 Conn. 229, 745 A.2d 800, 816 (2000).

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Bluebook (online)
897 N.W.2d 717, 2017 WL 2705393, 2017 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 74, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-iowa-v-andrew-lee-russell-iowa-2017.