Opinion ID: 776834
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of Subpoena Duces Tecum & Depositions

Text: 25 The appellants lastly challenge the trial judge's denial of their motions for subpoenas duces tecum, which they sought in order that they might discover evidence somewhere in USP-Marion records to support their necessity defenses. The trial judge denied the motion because the information sought by the appellants was nothing but a fishing expedition and was not relevant to any available defense. Furthermore the trial judge ruled that the requested mountain of documents was an oppressive and unreasonable burden. The Supreme Court identified a four-part test to guide trial courts in the issuance of subpoenas in criminal cases pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 17(c). First, the documents sought must be evidentiary and relevant. Second, the defendant must be unable through the exercise of due diligence to otherwise procure the documents reasonably in advance of trial. Third, the documents must be essential to prepare for trial. Finally, the application must be made in good faith and not intended as a general fishing expedition. United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 699-700, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974); United States v. Ashman, 979 F.2d 469, 495 (7th Cir.1992). 26 It is clear that appellants have failed to meet this test. They speculated the records would document the racial tension, and inadequate remedies available at the Marion prison, as well as, repercussions following the attempt to utilize administrative procedures. The trial court, however, had ruled explicitly that the defendants were not entitled to proceed under a theory that their possession of the weapons was justified by necessity because they failed to make a threshold showing that they faced an imminent threat that necessitated disregard of the law prohibiting possession of weapons in federal penitentiaries. 27 The appellants argue that the trial court's ruling created a chicken or egg dilemma — that they could not establish the threshold showing of the required elements of their proposed necessity defense unless they were allowed their fishing expedition through the records of the Bureau of Prisons. But Rule 17(c) is not a discovery device to allow criminal defendants to blindly comb through government records in a futile effort to find a defense to a criminal charge. Instead, it allows only for the gathering of specifically identified documents which a defendant knows to contain relevant evidence to an admissible issue at trial. Nixon, 418 U.S. at 700, 94 S.Ct. 3090; Ashman, 979 F.2d at 495.