Consultation With the Criminal Division About Reports Under 18 U.S.C. § 3333

If a special grand jury will be considering the issuance of a report under 18 USC § 3333 rather than an indictment; United States Attorneys are requested to notify the Chief of the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section.  When providing such notice, United States Attorneys should indicate why an indictment cannot be found to obviate the issuance of a grand jury report. It should also be explained how the facts developed during a criminal investigation support one of the authorized types of reports. Before any draft report is furnished to the grand jury, it must be submitted to the Chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Section for approval. When a United States Attorney learns that a grand jury is preparing a report which he/she has not requested, he/she should advise the Criminal Division.

It is not clear what remedy the government would have if a court acted wrongly in sealing a special grand jury report and refusing to make it public. The Chief of the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section should be notified promptly if a court finally determines for any reason that a grand jury report is deficient or not proper to be released, so that consideration may be given to the possibility of taking the matter to the court of appeals.

[updated January 2020] [cited in

JM 9-11.101

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