NCJ Number
120588
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: (Winter 1989) Pages: 1217-1237
Date Published
1989
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article discusses issues arising when a defendant is simultaneously involved in criminal proceedings and civil litigation.
Abstract
While parallel suit guidelines developed by many courts have been inconsistent, most courts try to balance society's interest in a timely resolution of criminal and civil disputes against possible prejudice to the parties because of the parallel proceedings. Parallel proceedings often give rise to conflicts between civil and criminal discovery, problems concerning disclosure of grand jury materials, and constitutional and procedural considerations such as double jeopardy, collateral estoppel, due process, and effective assistance of counsel. Problems in choosing remedies also arise. Relevant statutory and case law is cited in discussing parallel suit issues, and three recommendations are made regarding parallel suits. First, the current institutional good faith standard is too lenient on the government, permitting malicious government agents to issue summonses in connection with a civil proceeding to in fact gather information to be used in a parallel criminal proceeding. Second, grand jury materials should not be disclosed automatically to government attorneys pursuing a criminal investigation. Third, to avoid chilling civil actions, courts should refuse to modify protective orders to permit protected material to be disclosed in parallel criminal proceedings. 187 footnotes.