Opinion ID: 198819
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Sealing of the Fourth Superseding Indictment

Text: 16 Thomas Meuse and Todd Arsenault contend that it was improper to seal the fourth superseding indictment filed in June 1995 since the government did not disclose the reasons for doing so, and further, that the government chose to seal the indictment in order to gather additional evidence against the defendants, not because it needed more time to arrest defendants. Finally, they urge dismissal on the ground that only a properly sealed indictment tolls the statute of limitations and the limitations period had elapsed before the court unsealed the fourth superseding indictment in February 1996. 8 Criminal Rule 6(e)(4) provides: 17 The federal magistrate judge to whom an indictment is returned may direct that the indictment be kept secret until the defendant is in custody or has been released pending trial. Thereupon the clerk shall seal the indictment and no person shall disclose the return of the indictment except when necessary for the issuance and execution of a warrant or summons. 18 Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)(4). Rule 6(e) rests on the premise that criminal defendants not yet in custody may elude arrest upon learning of their indictment. Once the court sealed the fourth superseding indictment in this case, arrest warrants were issued against Arsenault, Balsam and Zackular, who had not yet been taken into custody on the federal charges. Contrary to appellants' contention, moreover, the government need not articulate its reasons for requesting that an indictment be sealed, so long as its request is based on a ground set forth in Rule 6(e). See, e.g., United States v. LaLiberte, 131 F.R.D. 20, 20-21 (D. Mass. 1990); United States v. Maroun, 699 F. Supp. 5, 6-7 (D. Mass 1988). 19 Their further assertion -- that the government utilized the sealing procedure as a ruse -- is meritless. Rule 6(e) does not forbid the sealing of an indictment for any reason other than taking a defendant into custody . . . [but] a magistrate may grant the government's request . . . 'for any legitimate prosecutorial objective or where the public interest otherwise requires it.' United States v. Richard, 943 F.2d 115, 118 (1st Cir. 1991) (citation omitted). In the present case, the government needed to take steps to place cooperating defendant Ferguson in a witness protection program during the summer of 1995. The protection of a key prosecution witness undoubtedly qualifies as a legitimate prosecutorial objective. See id. at 119 (citing with approval United States v. Ramey, 791 F.2d 317, 318 (4th Cir. 1986)). 20 Nevertheless, appellants contend that the government should have returned to court to inform the magistrate judge of its new objective. Appellants cite no authority for their contention, however, and the authority we have found is to the contrary. See id. (finding no authority for the implied proposition that the government must return to the magistrate as each new reason for continuing the sealing order arises). Finally, appellants point to no evidence that the ensuing seven-month delay was either pretextual or unreasonable. 9 21 We therefore affirm the refusal to dismiss the indictment.