Opinion ID: 588111
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Role of Subpoenas in Inevitable Discovery Analysis

Text: 33 In United States v. Roberts, 852 F.2d 671 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 993, 109 S.Ct. 556, 102 L.Ed.2d 583 (1988), the government had issued a grand jury subpoena for certain documents obtained months later during an unlawful search. The government claimed that the documents inevitably would have been discovered due to the outstanding subpoena. In rejecting this argument, we said: 34 The mere fact that the government serves a subpoena, however, does not mean that it will obtain the documents it requests. A subpoena can be invalid for a variety of reasons, as when it is unduly burdensome, Fed.R.Crim.P. 17(c), when it violates the right against self-incrimination, United States v. Doe, 465 U.S. 605, 610-12[ ] [104 S.Ct. 1237, 1241-42, 79 L.Ed.2d 552] (1984), or when it calls for privileged documents. In re Grand Jury Subpoena Dated Sept. 15, 1983, 731 F.2d 1032, 1036-37 (2d Cir.1984). Moreover, we can deplore but not ignore the possibility that the recipient of a subpoena may falsely claim to have lost or destroyed the documents called for, or may even deliberately conceal or destroy them after service of the subpoena. 35 Id. at 676; see also Center Art Galleries-Hawaii, Inc. v. United States, 875 F.2d 747, 754-55 (9th Cir.1989) (following Roberts ). In this case, the information derived from subpoenas plays a significant role in the government's claim that the evidence challenged by Eng inevitably would have been discovered absent a search of the safe. Eng contends that Roberts per se forbids the government from using the subpoena power to make its inevitable discovery case. 36 Contrary to Eng's contention, we did not hold in Roberts that the subpoena power never may be relied upon by the government to meet the inevitable discovery burden of proof. The subpoena power conferred upon the government under the rules of criminal procedure, see Fed.R.Crim.P. 17, serves important purposes as an investigative tool and as a method of obtaining evidence. The per se prohibition urged by Eng would conflict with the Supreme Court's requirement that the exclusionary rule, and the inevitable discovery exception, should not be employed so as to place the government in a worse position than it would have been in had no unlawful search occurred. See Nix, 467 U.S. at 443-44, 104 S.Ct. at 2509. Nor did we decide in Roberts, as the government seems to suggest, that there was some particular reason to suspect that the subpoena issued in that case was invalid. 37 Rather, we held in Roberts that the mere fact of an outstanding subpoena apparently dormant for several months before the unlawful search, and having no prospect of producing results, was an insufficient basis for concluding that discovery of the evidence was inevitable. See Roberts, 852 F.2d at 676. The circumstances revealed in Roberts, which made it unlikely that the subpoena would produce any evidence, must be contrasted with a situation where the government can demonstrate a substantial and convincing basis for believing that the requisite information would have been obtained by subpoena. Where the government is able to make such a demonstration, there is no reason why the government may not rely upon the subpoena power as one way it might meet the burden of proving inevitable discovery by a preponderance of the evidence. However, the various factors that might prevent a positive response to a subpoena must also be considered. See id. 38 In view of the need to prevent the inevitable discovery exception from swallowing the exclusionary rule, special care is required on the part of a district court when the government relies on the subpoena power. While we decline to draw a bright line, it is essential that there be a substantial degree of directness in the government's chain of discovery argument, rather than a hypothesized leapfrogging from one subpoena recipient to the next until the piece of evidence is reached. Further, the government must show that both issuance of the subpoena, and a response to the subpoena producing the evidence in question, were inevitable. Particular care is appropriate where, as here, subpoenas are issued after or at the time of the unlawful search, an issue that Roberts did not present. We share the Ninth Circuit's view that subpoenas must not serve as an after the fact insurance policy to validate an unlawful search under the inevitable discovery doctrine. See Center Art Galleries, 875 F.2d at 755. 39