Opinion ID: 165463
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: M atter occurring before a grand jury.

Text: According to Appellants, the transcript and proffer from the 1997 sealed hearing are “not technically grand jury information since [they were] created long after the termination of Special Grand Jury 89-2 and were not created as part of the grand jury investigation.” Aplt. Br. at 28. They also argue that the legal filings in this case “are standard filings sealed under the Court’s general authority” and are not covered by Rule 6(e). Id. “[S]ome of these filings,” they say, “contain absolutely no mention of any witness or document from the Special Grand Jury,” but merely “focus on the legal issues in the case.” Id. at 29. They further suggest that portions of the grand jury transcript, including certain exchanges between the grand jurors and prosecutors, could be released without offending Rule 6(e) by redacting names and other identifying factors. W e reject Appellants’ contentions, at least in their full generality. First, the reproduction of grand jury material in a later proceeding does not remove that material from the protections of Rule 6(e). Otherwise, anyone with knowledge of grand jury proceedings could file a sealed petition in a separate proceeding -31- requesting release of grand jury material, and then, when the request was denied, obtain release of the sealed petition without being bound by Rule 6(e). Accordingly, Rule 6(e) contains the following provisions: (5) C losed H earing. Subject to any right to an open hearing in a contempt proceeding, the court must close any hearing to the extent necessary to prevent disclosure of a matter occurring before a grand jury. (6) Sealed records. Records, orders, and subpoenas relating to grand-jury proceedings must be kept under seal to the extent and as long as necessary to prevent unauthorized disclosure of a matter occurring before a grand jury. Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)(5), (6). The Advisory Committee notes elaborate: This addition to Rule 6 would make it clear that certain hearings which would reveal matters which have previously occurred before a grand jury or are likely to occur before a grand jury with respect to a pending or ongoing investigation must be conducted in camera in whole or in part in order to prevent public disclosure of such secret information. Fed. R. Crim. P. 6, advisory committee notes, 1983 Amendments. As the Third Circuit has stated: “To preserve the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, the district court must seal certain hearings and records, although not grand jury proceedings themselves, when access to those hearings and records w ould jeopardize grand jury secrecy.” United States v. Smith, 123 F.3d 140, 149 (3d Cir. 1997); see also, In re Newark M orning Ledger Co., 260 F.3d 217, 222 (3d Cir. 2001) (“[T]he secrecy of grand jury proceedings also extends to collateral proceedings containing grand jury material . . . .”). -32- In support of their claim that the transcript and proffer from the 1997 hearings are not covered by Rule 6(e), Appellants cite DiLeo v. Commissioner, 959 F.2d 16 (2d Cir. 1992), and In re Plastics Additives Antitrust Litigation, 2004 W L 2743591 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 29, 2004), for the proposition that “true grand jury material” is distinct from “material that is collateral and ‘sought for its own sake or intrinsic value.’” Aplt. Br. at 28 n.14 (quoting DiLeo, 959 F.2d at 19-20). But these two cases provide no support for Appellants. The subject matter of interest in both cases w as not testimony or discussion before the grand jury but documents originally in the hands of a witness who produced them to the grand jury. The issue in both cases was whether Rule 6(e) precluded other persons from obtaining the same documents by subpoenaing the same witness. The cases hold that Rule 6(e) is no bar because production in response to the subpoena “would not seriously compromise the secrecy of the grand jury’s deliberations.” DiLeo, 959 F.2d at 19 (internal quotation marks omitted); see United States ex rel. Woodward v. Tynan, 757 F.2d 1085, 1087-88 (10th Cir. 1985) (“[W ]hen testimony or data is sought for its own sake— for its intrinsic value in the furtherance of a lawful investigation— rather than to learn what took place before the grand jury, it is not a valid defense to disclosure that the same information was revealed to a grand jury or that the same documents had been, or were presently being, examined by a grand jury.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Here, in contrast, disclosure is sought for the very purpose of revealing what occurred before the grand jury. -33- Thus, to the extent that the transcript and proffer from the 1997 sealed hearing disclose grand jury proceedings, they are protected by Rule 6(e). The same goes for the other legal filings in this case. Of course, purely legal argument, without reference to what occurred before the grand jury, needs no protection. But the district court’s public orders, as well as this opinion, adequately disclose those matters. Perhaps more can properly be disclosed, but that can be better determined during the proceedings on remand, which we order. There remains the question of what constitutes a “matter occurring before a grand jury,” and therefore is protected from disclosure by Rule 6(e)(2)(B). Appellants’ primary argument appears to be that what we might call administrative matters, such as exchanges between grand jurors and prosecutors concerning the grand jury’s investigation, are not so covered. W e are not persuaded. W e have broadly interpreted Rule 6(e) to encompass “what took place in the grand jury room,” Anaya v. United States, 815 F.2d 1373, 1379 (10th Cir. 1987), or “what is said or . . . takes place in the grand jury room.” Tynan, 757 F.2d at 1087 (internal quotation marks omitted). This includes, and properly so, exchanges between the grand jurors and prosecutors. These exchanges could reveal whom the grand jury is investigating and what witnesses have been called, how likely is an indictment, and what is the direction of the investigation. See Douglas Oil Co. of Cal. v. Petrol Stops Nw., 441 U.S. 211, 219 n.10 (1979) -34- (grand jury secrecy “prevent[s] the escape of those whose indictment may be contemplated; . . . prevent[s] persons subject to indictment or their friends from importuning the grand jurors; . . . [and] protect[s] [the] innocent accused who is exonerated” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Some grand jurors might be more hesitant to pose questions if there is a chance they might become public, and prosecutors’ answers to questions also may be less forthcoming. Secrecy encourages untrammeled discourse during the investigation. Id. (grand jury secrecy “insures the utmost freedom to the grand jury in its deliberations” (internal quotation marks omitted)). As stated by the D.C. Circuit, “[T]he touchstone is whether disclosure would tend to reveal some secret aspect of the grand jury’s investigation[;] such matters as the identities of w itnesses or jurors, the substance of testimony, the strategy or direction of the investigation, the deliberations or questions of jurors, and the like.” Senate of Puerto Rico ex rel. Judiciary Comm. v. United States, 823 F.2d 574, 582 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted). To be sure, as Appellants contend, some of these concerns can be ameliorated by redacting names. And the fact that the grand jury ended its investigation long ago also reduces the need for secrecy. These considerations can be weighed in determining whether a “matter occurring before the grand jury” should be disclosed. They do not mean, however, that such exchanges are not covered by Rule 6(e). See Douglas Oil Co., 441 U.S. at 222 (“[T]he interests in -35- grand jury secrecy, although reduced, are not eliminated merely because the grand jury has ended its activities.”). Other authorities support this broad view of Rule 6(e). See United States v. Phillips, 843 F.2d 438, 441 (11th Cir. 1988) (“The term ‘matters occurring before a grand jury’ has been defined to include anything that will reveal what transpired during the grand jury proceedings.”); Lance v. United States (In re Grand Jury Investigation), 610 F.2d 202, 216 (5th Cir. 1980) (“Courts have interpreted the secrecy requirement imposed by Rule 6(e) to apply not only to information draw n from transcripts of grand jury proceedings, but also to anything which may tend to reveal what transpired before the grand jury.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); 1 Charles Alan W right & Arthur R. M iller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 106 (3d ed. 1999) (“The rule of secrecy applies . . . to anything . . . that might tend to reveal what happened in the grand-jury room.”); 24 M oore’s, supra, ¶ 606.06[6] (“The term ‘matter occurring before the grand jury’ has been defined as anything that will reveal what transpired during the grand jury proceedings.”); Sara Sun Beale, et al., Grand Jury Law and Practice § 5.6 (2d ed. 2005) (“The touchstone for determining whether the disclosure of a particular item w ould reveal ‘a matter occurring before the grand jury’ is whether the disclosure of the item would reveal something of substance about the grand jury’s investigation.”).