UNITED STATES V. ZOLIN, 491 U. S. 554 :: Volume 491 :: 1989 :: Full Text:: US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez
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Justia > US Supreme Court Center > US Supreme Court Cases & Opinions > Volume 491 > UNITED STATES V.ZOLIN, 491 U. S. 554 (1989) > Full Text Share I
UNITED STATES V. ZOLIN, 491 U.S. 554 (1989)
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U.S. Supreme Court
United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554 (1989)
United States v. Zolin
No. 88-40
Argued March 20, 1989
Decided June 21, 1989
491 U.S. 554
CERTIORARI 7O THE UNITED STATES COURT OFAPPEALS FOR
THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as part of its investigation of the tax returns of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology (the Church), filed in the Federal District Court a petition to enforce a summons it had served upon the Clerk of the Los Angeles County Superior Court demanding that he produce documents, including two tapes, in his possession in conjunction with a pending suit. The Church and Mary Sue Hubbard, intervenors in the state court action and respondents here, intervened to oppose production of the materials. They claimed, inter alia, that the IRS was not seeking the materials in good faith, and that the attorney-client privilege barred the tapes' disclosure. The IRS argued, among other things, that the tapes fell within the exception to the attorney-client privilege for communications in furtherance of future illegal conduct -- the so-called "crime-fraud" exception -- and urged the District Court to listen to the tapes in making its privilege determination. In addition, the IRS submitted a declaration by a special agent which had included partial tape transcripts the IRS lawfully had obtained. The court rejected respondents' bad-faith claim and ordered production of five of the requested documents, but it conditioned its enforcement order by placing restrictions upon IRS dissemination of the documents. The court also ruled that the tapes need not be produced, since they contained privileged attorney-client communications to which, the quoted excerpts revealed, the crime-fraud exception did not apply. The court rejected the request that it listen to the tapes, on the ground that that request had been abandoned in favor of using the agent's declaration as the basis for determining the privilege question. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conditional enforcement order. As to the privilege issue, it agreed with respondents that the District Court would have been without power to grant the IRS' demand for in camera review of the tapes because the Government's evidence of crime or fraud must come from sources independent of the attorney-client communications on the tapes. Reviewing the independent evidence (a review that excluded the partial transcripts), the court affirmed the District Court's determination as to the inapplicability of the crime-fraud exception.
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(Full Supreme Court opinion text follows, see original for full details)
The remainder of the email contains the full text of the Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554 (1989), as well as web navigation, lawyer advertisements, and site styling code from Justia.com. The case concerns the IRS's attempt to obtain documents and tapes related to L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology, the assertion of attorney-client privilege, and the crime-fraud exception. The Supreme Court addresses whether in camera review of privileged materials is permissible to determine if the crime-fraud exception applies, and under what evidentiary standards.
Key entities: L. Ron Hubbard, Church of Scientology, Mary Sue Hubbard, IRS, U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit, Frank S. Zolin, Steven Petersell (IRS Special Agent).
No flight info or celebrity names (other than L. Ron Hubbard, a public figure) are present.
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