United States v. Doe

727 F. Supp. 265, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15270
District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided December 14, 1989·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the government’s Motion to Enforce a Grand Jury Subpoena duces tecum issued by a Grand Jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on August 2, 1989 (the “Subpoena”). The pertinent facts are easily stated. “John Doe” (“Doe”),1 together with two other individuals, incorporated the “Corporation” 1 in the state of Utah in 1986. Thereafter, as president and chief operating officer of the Corporation, Doe traveled to the Eastern District of Virginia to negotiate a loan purportedly to, and on behalf of, the Corporation. As of June 1, 1988, the Corporation ceased to exist as a legal entity. More recently, evidence emerged suggesting that Doe may have made a ser[267] ies of false representations to a lending institution in the course of the loan application process. Accordingly, the matter was referred to a federal Grand Jury sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia. Acting upon the government’s suggestion, the Grand Jury issued the Subpoena.

Although not initially clear, the government has subsequently confirmed that the Subpoena is directed to Doe solely in his capacity as custodian of the Corporation’s records. Further, a cover letter accompanying the Subpoena advised Doe that he could elect to produce the documents directly to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in lieu of making a personal appearance before the Grand Jury. Immediately prior to the Subpoena’s return date, Doe retained new counsel who requested a continuance to allow him time to become familiar with the case. Thereafter, Doe, through counsel, exercised his Fifth Amendment privilege and accordingly, refused to produce any documents under the Subpoena. In response, the government made clear that the Grand Jury was not seeking Doe’s testimony but only production of those corporate documents falling within the subject matter areas identified in the Subpoena.

To vindicate its position, the government filed the Motion to Enforce which is the subject of this Memorandum Opinion. Doe’s Opposition states three grounds on which the Motion for Enforcement should be denied. They are:

(1) that the Subpoena is directed to Doe in his individual capacity and, thus, seeks to compel incriminating testimony in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege;
(2) that, even if directed to Doe as corporate custodian, the motion to enforce should be denied because certain documents specified by the Subpoena are personal documents held by him in his individual, rather than corporate, capacity and, thus, deserve Fifth Amendment protection; and
(3) that, even if the Subpoena is deemed directed to Doe as corporate custodian, the Subpoena should not be enforced because the act of production itself might incriminate Doe given his leading role in the Corporation.

Analysis appropriately begins with recognition of certain settled principles. First, the presumption of regularity that attaches to grand jury proceedings applies with equal force to duly-issued subpoenas, with the result that the burden rests on the party resisting the subpoena to show that the information sought is privileged, or that there has been an abuse of the grand jury process. See In re United States Grand Jury Proceedings (Cid), 767 F.2d 1131, 1133 (5th Cir.1985); In re Special Grand Jury No. 81-1 (Harvey), 676 F.2d 1005, 1010, withdrawn on other grounds, 697 F.2d 112 (4th Cir.1982). Here, therefore, Doe bears the burden of establishing that the Fifth Amendment privilege applies and bars enforcement of the Subpoena.

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United States v. Doe, 727 F. Supp. 265, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15270 (E.D. Va. 1989).

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