Grand Jury Investigation State of Missouri v. Wer State of Missouri’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 district · 1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The purpose of Rule 6(e)(2) is to protect the inner workings of the grand jury. The more a document reveals about that work, the greater the protection it receives under the rule. See In re Grand Jury Proceedings Relative to Perl, 838 F.2d 304, 306-07 (8th Cir.1988). The materials sought by the state vary in their nature. For example, the letters written by participants in the scheme were generated independently of the grand jury and therefore reveal little about its investigation other than that they were available to the grand jury which may have considered them; they are entitled to diminished protection under the rule. Id. at 307 . Charts and summaries may reveal somewhat more about what the grand jury considered, but they were prepared by government attorneys or agents and were not the work product of the grand jury. The state is not requesting grand jury minutes or witness transcripts, which are entitled to the greatest protection under Rule 6(e). Id. at 306 . The requested materials therefore fall along a spectrum and warrant different levels of protection, but none reveal much about the grand jury's inner workings.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In Re Potash Antitrust Litigation

2. “Because the state has carefully excluded from its request any information regarding witnesses who actually testified before the grand jury, there is little reason to be concerned that disclosure might cause witnesses in this or future grand jury investigations to fear retribution. * * * The state’s petition appears limited to materials which are needed in the civil ease. It explicitly avoided asking for information which would reveal actual testimony before the grand jury, such as witness notes and summaries.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re Potash Antitrust Litigation

3. “decision to allow disclosure is entrusted to the substantial discretion of the district court, which must weigh the circumstances of each case”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. No. 05-3886