ELR Citation: ELR 20113
No(s). s. 04-1193, -1215 (10th Cir. Jun 15, 2006)

The court reverses and remands a lower court decision denying petitions brought by members of a federal grand jury empanelled to investigate possible environmental crimes at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in Colorado. The petitions seek the release of certain documents and the lifting of their secrecy obligations under Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The proceeding below was essentially a civil proceeding rather than a criminal proceeding. Hence, the jurors' notice of appeal was timely. Further, the resolution of the case does not call for an advisory opinion, the jurors had standing, and claim preclusion and issue preclusion do not apply. The lower court, therefore, had jurisdiction and should not have dismissed the case.