Opinion ID: 528808
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Video Tapes Subpoena

Text: 28 One of the primary concerns voiced by this court in Model I was the lack of specificity in the subpoenas at issue. Rather than requesting specific video tapes, the subpoena required Model to produce any video tapes that met a certain description detailed in the subpoena. We refused to enforce the subpoena because, inter alia, its specificity was illusory, since the categories described do not refer to particular tapes. Model I, supra, 829 F.2d at 1302. Although the subpoenas before us on this appeal do request the video tapes by title, we cannot find, on the record before us, that they satisfy either the relevancy or necessity requirements of Rule 17(c). 29 The commercial sale or exhibition of films is a form of expression strictly protected by the first amendment. Joseph Burystn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495, 501-02, 72 S.Ct. 777, 780-81, 96 L.Ed. 1098 (1952). Thus, the first amendment context of these proceedings heightens the concern about burdensomeness and fourth amendment violations. Model I, supra, 829 F.2d at 1296. Taking these concerns into account in Model I, we quashed the subpoenas duces tecum not only because of their illusory specificity, but also because the presumptively protected materials they seek are otherwise procurable, and in a less intrusive manner. Id. at 1302. Such a ruling was required by Nixon, which held that the material sought by a subpoena duces tecum must not be otherwise procurable reasonably in advance of trial by exercise of due diligence. Nixon, supra, 418 U.S. at 699, 94 S.Ct. at 3103. 30 Model contends that the subpoena duces tecum in this case is invalid because there has been no preliminary determination of whether there is probable cause to believe that the subpoenaed films are obscene. We disagree and reject Model's assertion that a finding of probable cause with respect to each item must precede issuance of a subpoena duces tecum in the context of materials presumptively protected by the First Amendment. No precedent exists for importing the full panoply of Fourth Amendment protections into the area of grand jury subpoenas and indeed to do so would transform this area of law substantially. A subpoena does not present the same kind of potential for intrusion upon the rights of privacy that a forcible search entails, and the resulting safeguards are therefore different. See, e.g., United States v. Dionisio, 410 U.S. 1, 93 S.Ct. 764, 35 L.Ed.2d 67 (1973) (subpoena compelling an individual to appear before grand jury does not constitute a Fourth Amendment seizure). 31 Rather, we think that Model's protections lie not in the prior review which it seeks but in its own motion to quash. It is open to Model to object to the subpoena duces tecum as being unreasonable or oppressive. Fed.R.Crim.Proc. 17(c). See In re Grand Jury Subpoena, 829 F.2d at 1305-07 (discussing the requirements for a valid grand jury subpoena). In this regard, if Model moves to quash the subpoena on the grounds that one or more of the films sought is not obscene, the district court must then undertake an in camera review of those films under the relevant legal definition of obscenity. See Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973). If, during the course of its review, the court determines that protected films have been sought, the subpoena is invalid and must be quashed in its entirety. 32 We think this safeguard necessary to prevent overbroad subpoenas of films which are clearly protected by the First Amendment. Indiscriminate grand jury subpoenas of protected films could easily convey the impression that erotic or sensual depictions of any sort--including those that are not obscene--open their possessor to criminal prosecution. The fact that a particular film has been subject to subpoena may itself inhibit its display and distribution. The chilling effect of such sweeping and indiscriminate uses of the subpoena power is anything but fanciful; it is altogether real. On the other hand, we see no basis to retard the workings of the grand jury with the kind of burdensome procedures for prior review which appellant requests. Rather, our approach permits a grand jury to investigate criminal obscenity but prevents the grand jury from inhibiting presumptively protected expression which may not be obscene. 33 We also note that there is an additional means for obtaining these tapes other than the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum and an in camera review by the district court. This method would involve simply buying the tapes and then subjecting them to a determination of obscenity in the eyes of the grand jury or a magistrate before issuing a subpoena duces tecum for particular tapes. Model I, supra, 829 F.2d at 1301. This court is acutely aware that in other pornography investigations the federal government has employed agents to deal in the purchase, sale and distribution of allegedly obscene material. See, e.g., United States v. Guglielmi, 819 F.2d 451 (4th Cir.1987) cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1019, 108 S.Ct. 731, 98 L.Ed.2d 679 (1988). We fail to see why the government, in this case, refuses to obtain a copy of the requested videos by simply purchasing them. 34 Next, it appears to us that the government failed to establish the relevance of these video tapes to the grand jury investigation. In a case such as this the government bears the burden of showing in what respect the [items] sought are material to any issue in the case. A mere hope that the [tapes], if produced, would contain evidence favorable to the [prosecution's] case will not suffice. Layton, supra, 90 F.R.D. at 516. See also, United States v. Bookie, 229 F.2d 130 (7th Cir.1956). 35 Having never viewed any of the 193 films in question, the government is unable to allege with any degree of certainty that these presumptively protected materials are in fact obscene. The allegations of the video's obscene nature, and therefore of their relevance, rest solely on the titles of the films. 4 Merely alleging that the title of a film sounds obscene, without offering a basis for this belief, does not satisfy the relevancy requirement of Rule 17(c). In essence the government is arguing that it cannot know if the material is obscene, and therefore relevant to its case, until it has examined it. By this argument the government is essentially asking us to allow [them] to use Rule 17 as a device to embark on a 'fishing expedition.'  Layton, supra, 90 F.R.D. at 517. 36 With respect to materials presumptively protected under the first amendment, the government should be prepared to offer more evidence than the title of a work to prove its relevance to a pornography investigation. That evidence could include, but is by no means limited to, descriptions of the film found in the distributor's own promotional material or elsewhere. 37 We are unable to tell from the record what findings, if any, the district court made with respect to the relevancy of the named video tapes to the grand jury's investigation, or the necessity of a subpoena duces tecum as a tool for obtaining those tapes. For this reason we remand to the district court Model's motion to quash the subpoena requesting the movies, so that such findings can be made and incorporated into the record. 38 For the reasons set forth herein, we quash the subpoena duces tecum requesting the business records of R. Enterprises, Inc. and MFR Court Street Books, Inc. and we reverse those companies' convictions for civil contempt. We uphold the subpoena duces tecum requesting certain business records from Model Magazine, and we remand to the district court Model's motion to quash the subpoena duces tecum requesting one copy of each of the 193 named video tapes for findings regarding relevance and necessity. 5 Finally, we reverse Model's contempt conviction based on the company's refusal to turn over the requested tapes. 39 AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, REMANDED IN PART.