United States v. Louis Trauth Dairy, Inc.

162 F.R.D. 297, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9403, 1995 WL 398738
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMarch 23, 1995
DocketNo. CR-1-94-52
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 162 F.R.D. 297 (United States v. Louis Trauth Dairy, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Louis Trauth Dairy, Inc., 162 F.R.D. 297, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9403, 1995 WL 398738 (S.D. Ohio 1995).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO QUASH

SPIEGEL, District Judge.

MOTIONS CONSIDERED

This matter is before the Court on the Motion to Quash Subpoena Issued to Adams, Brooking, Stepner, Wolterman & Dusing (doc. 56), the H. Meyer Dairy Company, Inc.’s Motion to Quash or Modify Defendant Trauth Dairy Company’s Subpoena (doe. 57), the Memorandum of the United States in Support of Motions to Quash (doc. 59), the Defendants’ Response to the Adams, Brooking, Stepner, Wolterman & Dusing Motion to Quash (doc. 60), the Defendants’ Response to the Trauth Dairy Company Motion to Quash (doc. 61), Defendants’ Reply to the Memorandum of the United States (doc. 62), the Reply Memorandum of Adams, Brooking, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing (doc. 63), the Reply Memorandum of H. Meyer Dairy Company (doc. 64), and the Defendant’s Supplemental Response to the Motion to Quash Subpoena Issued to the Law Firm (doc. 67).

BACKGROUND

Previously, we approved a procedure by which the Defendants could issue subpoenas, under Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. See Order of Dec. 7, 1994, Document 53. In that Order we indicated that any recipient could oppose such a subpoena. In addition, we granted the United States the opportunity to join any recipient in opposition. In accord with this procedure, the Defendants have served subpoenas for documents on the H. Meyer Dairy Company (“Meyer Dairy”) and on the law firm of Adams, Brooking, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing (“Adams, Brooking”). Adams, Brooking is a Northern Kentucky law firm which has long served as attorneys for Meyer Dairy and David Meyer, a key witness for the United States in this case. These two recipients of subpoenas have now moved to quash, and the Government has filed a memorandum on their behalf. Having examined the able arguments presented by all parties, we find that the Defendants have not, in most instances, met their burden of showing that these subpoenas are appropriate under Rule 17. Therefore, except for one specific request for financial information from Meyer Dairy Company, Inc., these motions to quash are granted.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party seeking production of documents under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(e) must establish good cause for advance production of the materials subpoenaed. United States v. Iozia, 13 F.R.D. 335, 338 (S.D.N.Y.1952). The party seeking production must establish that the subpoena seeks relevant, admissible documents which have been requested with adequate specificity. United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 700, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 3103-3104, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974). The Nixon case established that the party seeking evidence under Rule 17(c) must show that:

(1) that the documents are evidentiary and relevant;
(2) that they are not otherwise procurable reasonably in advance of trial by exercise of due diligence;
[300]*300(3) that the party cannot properly prepare for trial without such production and inspection in advance of trial and that the failure to obtain such inspection may tend unreasonably to delay the trial; and
(4) that the application is made in good faith and is not intended as a general “fishing expedition.”

Nixon, 418 U.S. at 699-700, 94 S.Ct. at 3103.

The ordinary vehicle for obtaining pretrial discovery under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is Rule 16. Rule 17(c) “is not intended to provide an additional means of discovery.” United States v. Arditti, 955 F.2d 331, 345 (5th Cir.1992). The need for evidence to impeach witnesses is insufficient to require advance production under Rule 17(c). Nixon, 418 U.S. at 701, 94 S.Ct. at 3104. Finally, the Court may weigh other considerations in making a determination of good cause sufficient to enforce a subpoena. One matter to be weighed is the protection of confidential sources of information. Iozia, 13 F.R.D. at 338. The Court may also weigh the relative burden of production upon the recipient of the subpoena. United States v. Kalter, 5 F.3d 1166, 1169 (8th Cir.1993).

DISCUSSION

The Defendants are charged with conspiring to fix milk prices in violation of criminal antitrust statutes. Meyer Dairy is alleged to be an unindicted co-conspirator. The Defendants have issued two subpoenas, which are the subject of these separate motions to quash. The first is directed toward the H. Meyer Dairy Company and the other to the law firm which represents Meyer Dairy. Both Meyer Dairy and the law firm have filed motions to quash, and the Government has offered a brief in support. We note that Meyer Dairy has already produced some requested documents and has indicated a willingness to produce others. In regard to the contested documents, we find that the motions to quash should be granted except in one limited respect.

A. Undisputed Documents

The Defendants have requested certain items which either have already been provided through the previous release of documents by the Government, or the production of which Meyer Dairy does not oppose. These include certain rolodexes, telephone logs and similar items, travel and entertainment vouchers, and agreements relating to the merger of Meyer Dairy with Cloverleaf-Han-neken Dairy, Cedar Hill Farms, Wilson Dairy or Cloverleaf Dairy of Maysville, Kentucky. Therefore, the motion to quash in regard to these documents is moot.

B. Documents for Impeachment Purposes

The Government intends to present the testimony of certain executives of the Meyer Dairy (“Meyer witnesses”), who claim to have conspired with the Defendants to fix prices. The Defendants have indicated that they intend to attack the credibility of these witnesses. For a number of years, the Meyer witnesses denied the existence of a conspiracy, then simultaneously they changed their testimony, plead guilty to federal criminal charges, and settled their respective civil lawsuits. The Defendants maintain that these witnesses in fact are conspiring to use this criminal prosecution to the competitive advantage of Meyer Dairy against Defendant Trauth Dairy.

A significant portion of the documents requested in the subpoenas concern negotiations in Meyer Dairy’s antitrust litigation with the states of Ohio and Kentucky and with the United States. In particular, the subpoenas request information concerning the settlement negotiations in these cases. It seems clear that the intent in attempting to collect these materials is to impeach the testimony of the Meyer witnesses. As we noted above, the need for evidence to impeach witnesses is insufficient to require advance production under Rule 17(c). Nixon, 418 U.S. at 701, 94 S.Ct. at 3104.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 F.R.D. 297, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9403, 1995 WL 398738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-louis-trauth-dairy-inc-ohsd-1995.