RULE 17.1 SUBPOENAS FOR PRODUCTION OF BOOKS, DOCUMENTS, OR
OBJECTS.
(a) General. No subpoena in a criminal case may require the production of
books, documents or objects at a date, time or place other than the date, time and place
of the trial, hearing or proceeding at which the items are to be offered in evidence, unless
the Court has entered an order under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c)
authorizing the issuance of the subpoena.
(b) Motions for Pre-Proceeding Document Production. Motions for the
issuance of a subpoena to produce documents before a trial or evidentiary proceeding
under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c) must comply with L.Cr.R. 47.1 and be
made to the Court. Such motions must be served on the opposing party, except in
extraordinary circumstances where ex parte consideration may be justified. Extraordinary
circumstances justifying ex parte consideration shall be detailed in the motion for the
issuance of a subpoena and must be ruled on by the court.
The motion must include:
(1) A description of the specific material requested;
(2) An explanation of the following—
(i) The likelihood of admissibility of the material requested;
(ii) Why the material is unavailable through other means;
(iii) Why the matter cannot be adequately prepared with the
material; and
(iv) Why the use of a subpoena is not in furtherance of general
discovery;
(3) One of the following representations—
(i) The subpoena does not seek a victim’s personal or
confidential information;
(ii) The movant does not know whether the subpoena seeks a
victim’s personal or confidential information; or
(iii) The subpoena expressly seeks a victim’s personal or
confidential information; and
(4) A copy of the proposed subpoena attached as an exhibit.
(c) Ruling. The Court must make a preliminary determination whether the
material sought is probably relevant and probably admissible. The Court must also
determine if the request is specific enough to be intelligently evaluated and may place
limits on the requested production.
