City of Los Angeles, a Municipal Corporation v. Honorable David W. Williams, United States District Judge, P. J. Lupton, Real Party in Interest

The question presented is whether, in these circumstances, the order of the district court enforcing a grand jury subpoena is reviewable by way of writ of mandamus or prohibition.

Beyond question, the district court had jurisdiction to decide whether the subpoena demanded privileged material. Lampman v. United States District Court, 418 F.2d 215 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 919 , 90 S.Ct. 926 , 25 L.Ed.2d 100 (1970). That the federal grand jury had authority to issue the subpoena, Shillitani v. United States, 384 U.S. 364, 370 , 86 S.Ct. 1531 , 16 L.Ed.2d 622 (1966); Levine v. United States, 362 U.S. 610 , 80 S.Ct. 1038 , 4 L.Ed.2d 989 (1960), and had power to enforce a compliance with the requirements of the subpoena by an appropriate order, is well settled. Cobbledick v. United States, 309 U.S. 323, 327 , 60 S.Ct. 540 , 84 L.Ed. 783 (1940). The contention that the claim of privilege enjoys a special status in considering a petition for an extraordinary writ has been expressly rejected by the United States Supreme Court in Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90 , 88 S.Ct. 269 , 19 L.Ed.2d 305 (1967). By undertaking to decide the issue of whether the material subpoenaed by…