U.S. v. Regional Consulting Services for Economic and Community Development, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 August 1983
• Citation: 766 F.2d 870
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. REGIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES FOR ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, INC., a non-profit West Virginia corporation; Region I Planning and Development Council, and Michael B. Jacobs, Executive Director of Region I Planning and Development Council and Project Director of Regional Consulting Services for Economic and Community Development, Inc., Appellants. In re SEARCH WARRANT DATED
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 870

766 F.2d 870

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. REGIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES FOR ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, INC., a non-profit West Virginia corporation Region I Planning and Development Council, and Michael B Jacobs, Executive Director of Region I Planning and Development Council and Project Director of Regional Consulting Services for Economic and Community Development Inc., Appellants In re SEARCH WARRANT DATED AUGUST 23, 1983.

No. 84-2214.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued May 8, 1985.

Decided July 11, 1985.

Rebecca A. Betts, Charleston, W. Va. (Robert B. King, Robert B. Allen, King, Betts & Allen, Charleston, W. Va., Stephen B. Goad, Bluefield, W. Va., Burton & Cunningham, Princeton, W. Va., Edwin B. Wiley, Sanders & Wiley, Bluefield, W. Va., on brief), for appellants.

Richard S. Glaser, Jr. Charleston, W.Va. (David A. Faber, U.S. Atty., Charleston, W. Va., Michael W. Carey, Asst. U.S. Atty., Betty J. Adkins, Paralegal Specialist, on brief), for appellee.

Before HALL and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges, and TURK, Chief District Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

K.K. HALL, Circuit Judge:

Regional Consulting Services for Economic and Community Development, Inc. ("RCS"), Region I Planning and Development Council ("Region I"), and Michael B. Jacobs, project director of RCS and executive director of Region I, seek to appeal the district court's denial of their motion for return of property and suppression of evidence filed pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(e). ¹ The United States has moved to dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We conclude that appellate jurisdiction does not exist and, therefore, grant the government's motion.

I.

On August 12, 1983, the United States sought and obtained a search warrant, authorizing the search for and seizure of various documents and records of appellants. ² In the affidavit for the search warrant, the government accused appellant Michael Jacobs of obstructing justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1503 in that he allegedly attempted to destroy documentary evidence subject to grand jury subpoenas.

The warrant was executed on August 13, 1983, and substantial quantities of appellants' records and documents maintained in four different cities in West Virginia were seized. Since this seizure, some twenty-two months ago, no detention, arrest, indictment, or other charges have issued against either Michael Jacobs or the other appellants.

On September 9, 1983, shortly after the records in question were seized by the government, appellants filed a motion pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(e), ³ styled "Motion for Return of Illegally Seized Property and for Suppression of Evidence." Appellants challenged the issuance and execution of the warrant. The motion prayed for "the return of all property taken pursuant to the unlawful searches and seizures" and a direction that "all property illegally seized shall not be admissible in any hearing or trial." ⁴

Almost one year later, on August 22, 1984, the district court denied appellants' motion, ruling that the search warrant was properly issued and executed. In re Motion to Quash Grand Jury Subpoenas, 593 F.Supp. 184 (S.D.W.Va.1984). Appellants seek to appeal this order.

II.

Initially, we are confronted with the question of whether we have jurisdiction to decide this appeal. The government contends that the district court's order is interlocutory and nonappealable under DiBella v. United States, 369 U.S. 121, 82 S.Ct. 654, 7 L.Ed.2d 614 (1962), and its progeny. We agree.

Neither the United States Supreme Court nor this Court has addressed the issue presented here of whether an order denying a Rule 41(e) motion is appealable where there has been no detention, arrest, complaint, information, or indictment issued against the movant. The one Fourth Circuit case cited by the government, United States v. North American Coal Exchange, 676 F.2d 99 (4th Cir.1982), is not controlling since in that case an indictment had in fact issued against one of the appealing parties. ⁵

In DiBella motions to suppress and for return of property were filed after the movants had been arrested and were decided after indictment. The Supreme Court held the orders denying the motions nonappealable and stated that:

We hold, accordingly, that the mere circumstance of a pre-indictment motion does not transmute the ensuing evidentiary ruling into an independent proceeding begetting finality even for purposes of appealability. Presentations before a United States Commissioner, Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States, 282 U.S. 344, 352-354, 51 S.Ct. 153, 156-157, 75 L.Ed. 374, as well as before a grand jury, Coddledick v. United States, 309 U.S. 323, 327, 60 S.Ct. 540, 542, 84 L.Ed. 783, are parts of the federal prosecutorial system leading to a criminal trial. Orders granting or denying suppression in the wake of such proceedings are truly interlocutory, for the criminal trial is then fairly in train. When at the time of ruling there is outstanding a complaint, or a detention or release on bail following arrest, or an arraignment, information, or indictment--in each such case the order on a suppression motion must be treated as "but a step in the criminal case preliminary to the trial thereof." Cogen v. United States, 278 U.S. 221, 227, 49 S.Ct. 120 . Only if the motion is solely for return of property and is in no way tied to a criminal prosecution in esse against the movant can the proceedings be regarded as independent. Ibid.; see Carroll v. United States, 354 U.S. 394, 404 n. 17, 77 S.Ct. [1332] 1338 ; In re Brenner, 6 F.2d 425 (C.A.2d Cir.1925).

369 U.S. at 131-32, 82 S.Ct. at 660-61 (emphasis added).

In applying DiBella, the Circuit Courts of Appeals have split on the question of whether a grand jury investigation, without more, constitutes a criminal proceeding in esse sufficient to render the denial of a motion for return of property nonappealable within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits have held that a motion for return of property is appealable even if a grand jury investigation is in place. In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 716 F.2d 493 (8th Cir.1983); Sovereign News Co. v. United States, 690 F.2d 569 (6th Cir.1982), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 69, 78 L.Ed.2d 83 (1983); Mr. Lucky Messenger Service, Inc. v. United States, 587 F.2d 15 (7th Cir.1978); United States v. Alexander, 428 F.2d 1169 (8th Cir.1970); Gottone v. United States, 345 F.2d 165 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 901, 86 S.Ct. 234, 15 L.Ed.2d 155 (1965). The First, Second, Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits have held the contrary. DeMassa v. Nunez, 747 F.2d 1283 (9th Cir.1984); United States v. Furina, 707 F.2d 82 (3d Cir.1983); Standard Drywall, Inc. v. United States, 668 F.2d 156 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 927, 102 S.Ct. 1973, 72 L.Ed.2d 442 (1982); Imperial Distributors, Inc. v. United States, 617 F.2d 892 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 891, 101 L.Ed. 249, 66 L.Ed.2d 116 (1980); United States v. Glassman, 533 F.2d 262 (5th Cir.1976). We respectfully reject the view of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Tenth Circuits and hold that the denial of a Rule 41(e) motion is not a final, appealable order under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 notwithstanding the absence of formal criminal charges.

Applying the first prong of the DiBella test, we are unable to conclude that appellants' motion was solely for the purpose of return of their property. Appellants did not institute an independent action for the return of their property. Instead, they filed a motion pursuant to Rule 41(e), challenging the legality of the search and seizure, and in their prayer for relief, requested the district court to "[d]irect that all property illegally seized shall not be admissible in any hearing or trial." Thus, appellants made it clear that they sought more than the return of their property. See Furina, 707 F.2d at 83-84; Mr. Lucky Messenger Service, 587 F.2d at 16-17. Indeed, the district judge considered appellants' motion to be one to suppress, because he referred to it as such in his memorandum opinion and order. The district court also found that appellants were given access to the seized property, In re Motion to Quash Grand Jury Subpoenas, 593 F.Supp. at 192, thus refuting their contention that by their motion they sought solely the return of their property. ⁶ Cf. Mr. Lucky Messenger Service, 587 F.2d at 17 (independent cause of action for return of property); Imperial Distributors, 617 F.2d at 895-96 (motion not solely for return of property).

Appellants maintain that their motion merely requested the relief available under the provisions of Rule 41(e). They argue that the effect of suppression of evidence at hearing or trial is an automatic ingredient of a successful motion for return of property. Nonetheless, it cannot be said on this record that appellants' motion was "solely for return of property."

Appellants further argue that a Rule 41(e) motion, by its own terms, is not and cannot be characterized as a motion to suppress until after "an indictment or information is filed." They maintain, therefore, that because they filed their motion prior to the return of any indictment or information, it is not a motion to suppress, but is "solely for return of property." This argument exalts form over substance. Plainly, by their actions as well as their motion, appellants sought suppression of evidence. That is enough under DiBella to require that this appeal be dismissed.

Even if appellants' motion is solely for return of property within the meaning of DiBella, we hold that there is a "criminal prosecution in esse " against appellants because a grand jury investigation is presently ongoing. ⁷ The purpose of the grand jury is to investigate whether a crime has been committed and who committed it and to determine whether an indictment should...