Opinion ID: 175207
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Illston Quashal

Text: Judge Illston quashed the government's final subpoena under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c), which authorizes quashal if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive. Determining whether this standard is met is committed to the district judge's discretion, and we will reverse only if that discretion has been abused. In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 13 F.3d 1293, 1295 (9th Cir.1994) (per curiam). Judge Illston quashed the subpoena after both the Cooper and Mahan Orders. Judge Illston described the subpoena as served after the government had obtained evidence ... which has been determined now to have been illegally seized. Under the circumstances, Judge Illston regarded the subpoena as an unreasonable insurance policyhaving seized materials unlawfully, the government then subpoenaed the very same materials in an attempt to moot any future proceedings for a return of property. Cf. J.B. Manning Corp. v. United States, 86 F.3d 926 (9th Cir.1996). It isn't per se unreasonable to conduct an investigation using both search warrants and subpoenas. E.g., In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated Dec. 10, 1987, 926 F.2d 847, 851-55 (9th Cir.1991). But the presence of substantial government misconduct and unlawful seizure of evidence (which was absent from In re Grand Jury Subpoenas ) is quite properly taken into account when determining whether a subpoena is unreasonable. Moreover, Judge Illston found that the government's entire course of conduct had been intended to prevent the Players Association and CDT from litigating the legality of the original subpoenas. This, too, is a valid consideration in evaluating quashal. For us to reverse a decision as an abuse of discretion, we must have a definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in the conclusion it reached. Coldicutt, 258 F.3d at 941. That standarddifficult to meet under any circumstancescannot possibly be satisfied here, in light of Judge Cooper's preclusive findings and Judge Mahan's well-reasoned order. We therefore affirm the Illston Quashal. In doing so, we emphasize that, while the government is free to pursue warrants, subpoenas and other investigatory tools, and may do so in whichever judicial district is appropriate in light of the location of the information sought, it must fully disclose to each judicial officer prior efforts in other judicial fora to obtain the same or related information, and what those efforts have achieved. This is no more than we require of, for example, a prisoner seeking to file a second or successive habeas petition. More than one of the judges involved in this case below commented that they felt misled or manipulated by the government's apparent strategy of moving from district to district and judicial officer to judicial officer in pursuit of the same information, and without fully disclosing its efforts elsewhere. The cause of justice will best be served if such judicial reactions to the government's conduct can be avoided in the future.