United States v. Leonard L. Martino

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

The district court characterized a grand jury subpoena issued to an undercover agent in the pseudonym under which he was working as “a spurious order” of court which “obviously exceeds the bounds of propriety,” and, exercising its supervisory power, dismissed two counts of an indictment returned by the grand jury and suppressed conversations with the agent. In what appears to be a case of first impression, we must decide whether the district court’s order should be affirmed.

I

Facts

Leonard L. Martino, a former member of the Pennsylvania legislature,…