United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. Miller

Background

The court considered defendant Saeid Jaberian’s motion titled “Motion to Request to Receive Discovery Documents from Mr. Bill Muzzy.” Jaberian sought documents that he said had been obtained during his related criminal case. He stated that his former criminal-defense attorney’s office had told him that a protective order prevented release of the documents.

The civil case had previously been stayed until the conclusion of the related criminal proceedings. Jaberian had entered a plea agreement in that criminal case. The court stated that Attorney William J. Mauzy represented Jaberian during the criminal proceeding and was not a party to this civil case.

Court’s analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 governs discovery from nonparties in civil proceedings. Under that rule, a nonparty may be commanded to produce designated documents through a subpoena. The court found nothing in the record showing that Jaberian, who was proceeding without a lawyer in the civil case, had requested a subpoena from the Clerk’s Office to seek his criminal case file from Mauzy.

The court also advised that Jaberian must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the District of Minnesota’s Local Rules, and the court’s orders despite his status without a lawyer. The court did not decide whether Mauzy would be required to produce documents in response to a subpoena, and it did not prevent Mauzy from raising objections. The court noted that Jaberian might also need to seek an amendment to the protective order in the criminal case to use some evidence from that proceeding.

Disposition

Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright denied Jaberian’s motion. The court stated that this denial was without prejudice to Jaberian’s ability to seek an order compelling production if he serves Mauzy with a subpoena and Mauzy declines to produce documents requested under that subpoena.