Dyer v. DOES 1-10
- Joseph Spero
- 3:23-cv-01226
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Dyer v. Does 1-10, Judge Spero granted Dyer’s request to subpoena third parties before a Rule 26(f) conference to identify unknown defendants.
Min Ji Goo Dyer may serve the authorized third-party subpoenas. The subpoena recipients and, when necessary, their corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates may be required to provide the information described in the order. The order does not decide the underlying claims against John Does 1-10.
What happened
In Min Ji Goo Dyer v. John Does 1-10, Dyer asked for permission to serve subpoenas on third parties before the parties held the conference ordinarily required by Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The order concerns information connected to accounts, cryptocurrency addresses, transaction hashes, and telephone numbers.
The court found that Dyer had shown good cause and that the proposed discovery was narrow. It authorized subpoenas to Coinbase, Binance, Bandwidth.com, Regions Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Key Bank, Wells Fargo, Academy Bank, and Boeing Employees Credit Union.
The court granted Dyer’s application. Judge Joseph C. Spero also authorized subpoenas to related corporate entities when necessary and required service under Rule 45(b).
The detailed version
- Dyer v. DOES 1-10 · No. 3:23-cv-01226
- Joseph Spero
- Mar. 23, 2023
Background
The court considered Min Ji Goo Dyer’s ex parte application for permission to serve third-party subpoenas before the Rule 26(f) conference. An ex parte application is a request made without the usual participation of the opposing party. The defendants are identified in the caption as John Does 1-10.
Court’s Analysis
The court found that Dyer had established “good cause” for limited early discovery. The order cited decisions involving early third-party subpoenas and stated that the proposed discovery was narrow.
The order authorized Rule 45 subpoenas to Coinbase Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc. (Binance), Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC, Regions Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Key Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Academy Bank, and Boeing Employees Credit Union. The subpoenas could seek identifying information for specified accounts, cryptocurrency addresses, transaction hashes, and telephone numbers. They could also seek information about other accounts linked to or under common or coordinated control with the identified accounts, as well as documents sufficient to identify associated third-party accounts or funding sources.
Ruling
Judge Joseph C. Spero granted the application. The order further allowed subpoenas to the recipients’ corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates when necessary to carry out the subpoenas and the order’s purpose. It required Dyer to serve the subpoenas and a copy of the order in the manner required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(b).
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.