DOJ-OGR-00011459.jpg
Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 734 Filed 07/15/22 Page9of16
November 19, 2021
Page Nine
Argument
The subpoena should be quashed because (i) compliance would be unreasonable or
oppressive; (ii) it seeks documents that are inadmissible under Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of
Evidence; and (iii) it seeks “statements” of a witness that are not subject to subpoena under Rule
17(h) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
A. Compliance with the subpoena would be unreasonable or oppressive.
Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c)(2), the Court “may quash or modify the
subpoena if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 17(c)(2). The
determination of whether compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive is “committed to the
sound discretion of the trial court.” United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 702 (1974).
Compliance may be unreasonable or oppressive if the subpoena seeks information protected by
“constitutional, statutory, or common-law privilege[s],” or if the subpoena is “irrelevant, abusive
or harassing, overly vague, or excessively broad.” Jn re Grand Jury Subpoena for THCF Med.
Clinic Recs., 504 F. Supp. 2d 1085, 1088 (E.D. Wash. 2007) (citations omitted) (quashing
subpoena under Rule 17(c)(2)). In addition, “[c]ourts have relied on Rule 17(c) to quash a
subpoena that intrudes gravely on significant interests outside the scope of a recognized
privilege, if compliance is likely to ‘entail consequences more serious than even severe
inconveniences occasioned by irrelevant or overbroad requests for records.’” THCF Med. Clinic
Recs., 504 F. Supp. 2d at 1088 (quoting /n re Grand Jury Matters, 751 F.2d 13, 18 (1st Cir.
1984)).
Here, it would be unreasonable or oppressive to require a court-approved victims’
compensation program whose effectiveness depends on maintaining the confidentiality of
victims’ information to produce the very information it promised to keep confidential.
DOJ-OGR-00011459
Extracted Information
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00011459.jpg |
| File Size | 688.4 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.3% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,967 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 18:08:17.880142 |