Opinion ID: 789588
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: In Camera Hearings

Text: 12 Frequently, judges use in camera hearings to determine if the crime-fraud exception should apply. When an in camera hearing involves an examination of the actual documents for which privilege is claimed, the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554, 109 S.Ct. 2619, 105 L.Ed.2d 469 (1989), controls. In Zolin, the Court found that the allegedly privileged documents could themselves be examined in camera to determine whether the crime-fraud exception applies, but that the party invoking the exception must first make a threshold showing that the documents could potentially demonstrate the existence of the crime or fraud before an in camera hearing could occur. Id. at 572, 109 S.Ct. 2619. Specifically, the Court stated: 13 Before engaging in in camera review [of allegedly privileged documents] to determine the applicability of the crime-fraud exception, the judge should require a showing of a factual basis adequate to support a good faith belief by a reasonable person, that in camera review of the materials may reveal evidence to establish the claim that the crime-fraud exception applies. 14 Id. (internal citations omitted). Once this showing is made, a judge can review the allegedly privileged documents in camera to assist the court in determining if the government has presented a prima facie case that the crime-fraud exception should apply. 15 However, the Zolin decision does not speak to situations (such as here) in which a judge examines evidence from the opponent of the privilege, usually the government, ex parte and in camera without examining the allegedly privileged documents themselves. While the government must still make a prima facie case demonstrating that the crime-fraud exception applies, we have rejected the proposition that the government must meet an initial burden to qualify it for an in camera hearing of evidence alone. In In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 33 F.3d at 351, we upheld a district court's decision that had found the crime-fraud exception to apply after conducting an in camera hearing of both the government's submission, which the privilege-holder had not seen, and the privilege-holder's submission, which consisted of detailed summaries of the allegedly privileged documents. 16 In that case, while the appellants urged that Zolin should apply, we found that  Zolin did not provide a general rule applicable to all in camera reviews of any materials submitted by parties and that the government was thus not required to demonstrate an adequate factual basis for support of the crime-fraud exception before making an in camera submission to the district court. In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 33 F.3d at 350. We noted that because the district court had access to the grand jury's proceedings from the government's submission as well as the privilege-holder's summaries of the allegedly privileged documents, it was in its discretion to determine whether it was necessary to review the actual documents. Id. at 351. 5