Case Under Seal, No. 08-60121 (5th Cir. 2009)
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 08-60121 Summary Calendar July 17, 2009 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk In Re: GRAND JURY SUBPOENA Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi No. 3:07-MC-21 Before SMITH, STEWART, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* The appellant, Sarah O Reilly-Evans, the City Attorney of Jackson, Mississippi, appeals the denial of her motion to quash a grand jury subpoena. The grand jury was investigating possible civil rights violations by the mayor and other city officials. O Reilly-Evans states the issues on appeal as follows: 1. Whether federal law recognizes the existence of an attorney-client privilege between a government attorney and that attorney s client. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. No. 08-60121 2. Whether the United States put forth sufficient facts to demonstrate that an exception to the attorney-client privilege was warranted. We need not address the legal issues. The grand jury issued indictments, and even though O Reilly-Evans has completed her grand jury testimony, she claims that the appeal needs to be decided on the merits, because she might be called as a witness in the ensuing criminal trial. She also argues that this situation will undoubtedly arise in the future, and the broader legal question of whether a government attorney enjoys the attorney/client privilege with a government official must be answered. In its main brief on appeal, the government contends that the appeal should be dismissed as moot. Irrespective of whether it was moot at the time of the initial briefing, later events have rendered it so. The government has filed a renewed motion to dismiss as moot, pointing out that there will not be a trial, because the mayor has died, and the other remaining defendant has pleaded guilty. This controversy is at an end. Any theoretical possibility that O ReillyEvans will be subpoenaed to testify in a matter arguably subject to the attorneyclient privilege is so attenuated that we should not address the issue, and we decline to do so. The renewed motion to dismiss the appeal as moot is GRANTED. The appeal is DISMISSED. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
