Opinion ID: 474294
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Authority to Issue a Secrecy Order to Witnesses

Text: 11 We first address the district court's ruling that it lacked authority to issue the requested order because Fed.R.Crim.P. 6(e)(2) prohibits the imposition of an order of secrecy on grand jury witnesses. The issue is one of first impression for this court and one of first impression in the United States Courts of Appeal so far as we can ascertain. 2 12 Congress designed Rule 6(e) to prevent disclosure of matters occurring before the grand jury, thereby implementing the long-established policy that maintains the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings in the federal courts. United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. 677, 681, 78 S.Ct. 983, 986, 2 L.Ed.2d 1077 (1958) (citations omitted). 3 Quoting United States v. Rose, 215 F.2d 617, 628-29 (3d Cir.1954), the Supreme Court summarized the reasons for the policy of grand jury secrecy as follows: 13 (1) To prevent the escape of those whose indictment may be contemplated; (2) to insure the utmost freedom to the grand jury in its deliberations, and to prevent persons subject to indictment or their friends from importuning the grand jurors; (3) to prevent subornation of perjury or tampering with the witnesses who may testify before grand jury and later appear at the trial of those indicted by it; (4) to encourage free and untrammeled disclosures by persons who have information with respect to the commission of crimes; (5) to protect innocent accused who is exonerated from disclosure of the fact that he has been under investigation, and from the expense of standing trial where there was no probability of guilt. 14 United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. at 681 n. 6, 78 S.Ct. at 986 n. 6. 15 To these ends, Rule 6(e)(2), in part, recites a general rule of secrecy: No obligation of secrecy may be imposed on any person except in accordance with this rule. A knowing violation of Rule 6 may be punished as a contempt of court. In addition, Rule 6(e)(4) permits indictment to be kept secret until a defendant is in custody or released pending trial; Rule 6(e)(5) requires grand jury hearings to be closed to the extent necessary to prevent disclosure; and Rule 6(e)(6) requires [r]ecords, orders and subpoenas relating to grand jury proceedings [to] be kept under seal to the extent and for such time as is necessary to prevent disclosure of matters occurring before the grand jury. 16 Congress also created narrow exceptions to the general rule of secrecy. See Rule 6(e)(2) and (3). In listing those persons on whom an order of secrecy may be imposed, Rule 6(e)(2) makes no mention of witnesses. The notes of the advisory committee observe that while subdivision (e)(1) of Rule 6 preserves the traditional practice of secrecy on grand jurors and others unless a court permits disclosure, subdivision (e)(2) does not impose any obligation of secrecy on witnesses. The comment further states that [t]he existing practice on this point varies among the districts. The seal of secrecy on witnesses seems an unnecessary hardship and may lead to injustice if a witness is not permitted to make a disclosure to counsel or to an associate. Thus, the Rule permits a grand jury witness to disclose the fact or the content of his testimony without first obtaining an order of the court. However, we emphasize that the comments specify that this veil of secrecy was lifted to permit grand jury witnesses to make disclosures to counsel or to associates; while in this case, the witness intends to notify the targets of the grand jury investigation. 17 As the district court noted, a number of courts have stated that, notwithstanding the prohibition of Rule 6(e)(2), [c]ircumstances may exist    which would justify some restrictions on disclosure by [grand jury] witnesses. In re Grand Jury Witness Subpoenas, 370 F.Supp. 1282, 1285 n. 5 (S.D.Fla.1974). See also In re Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum, 575 F.Supp. 93, 94 (S.D.N.Y.1983); Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Unger, 532 F.Supp. 55, 59 (N.D.Ohio 1982). We are aware of only one court that has actually issued an order prohibiting certain financial institutions, served with grand jury subpoenas, from disclosing the fact of service of the subpoenas, the nature of the documents subpoenaed, and the extent of compliance with the subpoenas. In re Swearingen Aviation Corp., 486 F.Supp. 9, 11 (D.Md.1979), mandamus to vacate secrecy order denied for lack of standing, 605 F.2d 125 (4th Cir.1979) (hereinafter Swearingen ). In denying the writ of mandamus to vacate the secrecy order, the Fourth Circuit noted that the prohibition against imposing an obligation of secrecy on witnesses was intended to benefit the witnesses and not the targets of the grand jury investigation. Swearingen, 605 F.2d at 127. 18 Again, in this case, the Government seeks only to prevent the witness from disclosing what has occurred to the targets of the investigation. The financial institution is perfectly free to communicate with counsel or personnel within its organization about the subpoena or testimony before the grand jury. The question raised is whether the district court has the power to bar the financial institution from communicating the existence of the grand jury subpoena and investigation to the targets. 19 We do not believe that, in approving the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Congress intended to completely bar the district courts from imposing a reasonable obligation of secrecy on grand jury witnesses in an appropriate case. To construe the provisions of Rule 6(e) to give a grand jury witness unrestricted freedom to communicate the existence of the subpoena and the investigation or the content of testimony to targets could completely undercut the entire purpose of grand jury secrecy. For example, in this case, such disclosure to targets could enable the targets (1) to escape; (2) to exert pressure on grand jury members; or (3) to influence (or attempt to influence) witnesses appearing before the grand jury, thus discouraging free and untrammeled disclosures by witnesses. Thus, just as the general rule of grand jury secrecy may be set aside by a district court in an appropriate case pursuant to the provisions of Rule 6(e), so too should the prohibition against secrecy orders be subject to some control by the district judge. 4 We therefore conclude that, upon a proper showing in an appropriate case, the district court may direct a grand jury witness to keep secret from targets of the investigation the existence of a subpoena, the nature of documents subpoenaed, or testimony before the grand jury, for an appropriate period of time.