United States v. Poe

398 F. Supp. 487, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12795
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedApril 18, 1975
DocketCrim. No. 75-92
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 398 F. Supp. 487 (United States v. Poe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Poe, 398 F. Supp. 487, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12795 (W.D. Okla. 1975).

Opinion

ORDER

DAUGHERTY, Chief Judge.

All Defendants in this action have filed two Combined Motions which are interrelated and which are supported by a Brief. The Plaintiff has filed a Response to said Motions. The Court makes the following findings in respect to the Combined Motions by all Defendants.

1. DEFENDANTS (sic) MOTION FOR PRODUCTION.

In said Motion, Defendants request production of the following items: (1) Letter appointing Kurt P. Sehulke as special attorney in this District; (2) The Oath of Office as to said appointment; (3) The names of all attorneys appearing before the Grand Jury while matters were presented relative to the instant case; (4) Letters of appointment for all such attorneys named in the preceding request; (5) The Oaths of Office of said attorneys; (6) The record of Grand Jury proceedings relating to this case; (7) All documents issued by the Attorney General relating to the appointment of special attorneys pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 0.180; (8) All internal documents of the Justice Department directing the prosecution of the instant case; and (9) The minutes of the Grand Jury as related to this case.

The Plaintiff in its Response states that items (1) and (2) are on file with the Clerk of this Court under Misc. Docket No. 24. In answer to (3), the Plaintiff states that the only attorneys present for the Government before the Grand Jury when the instant case was presented were Kurt P. Sehulke and O. B. Johnston, III, an Assistant United States Attorney for this District. No Response is thus required for items (4) and (5). The Grand Jury testimony was not recorded and thus item (6) cannot be produced and this request is denied. There is no requirement for such. United States v. Cooper, 464 F.2d 648 (Tenth Cir. 1972). Plaintiff in its Response states Defendants have not met the reasonableness and materiality requirements of Rule 16(b), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as to the items requested in requests number (7) and (8). The Court finds that the Defendants have failed to show that the items in requests (7) and (8) are material to the preparation of a defense to the instant action pursuant to Rule 16(b), supra, and further that the items in request number (8) relating to internal Governmental documents in connection with the prosecution of this case are specifically not discoverable under Rule 16(b), supra. United States v. Long, 468 F.2d 755 (Eighth Cir. 1972). Therefore the requests for items (7) [489]*489and (8) are denied. The Plaintiff has failed to respond to the request to examine the Grand Jury Minutes. Same are kept by the Clerk of this Court. The Court hereby authorizes the Defendants or their attorneys to examine the Grand Jury Minutes as they relate to the instant case and this Order shall constitute the authority for such examination.

Accordingly, all items requested in Defendants’ Motion for Production have been provided in the Plaintiff’s Response, are on file with the Clerk of this Court, or the request for such items having been denied by the Court, it is not necessary for the Court to set a time and place for production pursuant to Rule 16(d), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

2. MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT.

This Combined Motion is made on the ground that Kurt P. Schulke, Special Attorney, Department of Justice, appeared before the Grand Jury which handed down the Indictment in the instant case and that he is not an attorney for the Government authorized to be present before the Grand Jury pursuant to Rule 6(d), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Defendants’ Brief is supported by four recent opinions attached thereto. Three were rendered by one Judge in the Western District of Missouri and one by a Judge in the Southern District of New York. The Defendants’ brief fails to state what points it relies upon in any of the four opinions, one of which exceeds 40 pages in length. Giving Defendants the benefit of the doubt, this Court determines that the points they attempt to raise in the instant Motion can be stated simply as follows:

(1) Whether the appointment of Kurt P. Schulke as a Special Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma is valid pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515?
(2) Whether the Indictment in the instant case should be dismissed if such appointment is found to be invalid pursuant to Rule 6(d), supral

The Plaintiff in its Response urges that the appointment of Kurt P. Schulke as a special attorney is valid. It states that same was filed with the Clerk of this Court on September 9, 1974 and the Oath of Office executed and filed on said date. It submits by attachment to its Response two recent opinions which are directly contrary to those relied upon by Defendants.

28 U.S.C. § 515 provides:
“(a) The Attorney General or any other officer of the Department of Justice, or any attorney specially appointed by the Attorney General under law, may, when specially directed by the Attorney General, conduct any kind of legal proceeding, civil or criminal, including grand jury proceedings and proceedings before committing magistrates, which United States attorneys are authorized by law to conduct, whether or not he is a resident of the district in which the proceeding is brought.
(b) Each attorney specially retained under authority of the Department of Justice shall be commissioned as special assistant to the Attorney General or special attorney, and shall take the oath required by law. Foreign counsel employed in special cases are not required to take the oath. The Attorney General shall fix the annual salary of a special assistant or special attorney at not more than $12,000.”

The letter of appointment filed with the Clerk of this Court is appended hereto as Exhibit “A”.

Two of the cases submitted by Defendants are in point with the issues raised in the instant Motion. United States v. Crispino, 392 F.Supp. 764 (S.D.N.Y., 1975) and United States v. [490]*490Agrusa, 392 F.Supp. 3 (W.D.Mo., 1975). (The other two cases submitted serve to complement the Agrusa decision and are opinions by the same Judge on related matters.)

The appointment letter involved in the Crispino case is worded identically to the one involved herein except for necessarily referring to another District. It was signed by Henry E. Petersen, Assistant Attorney General. The Court held that such an appointment could be delegated properly to the Assistant Attorney General. The Court held that United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 94 S.Ct.

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Related

United States v. McDaniel
428 F. Supp. 1226 (W.D. Oklahoma, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
398 F. Supp. 487, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-poe-okwd-1975.