SUBPOENA ISSUED BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS SHOULD HAVE BEEN QUASHED BECAUSE IT WAS ISSUED WITHOUT ANY INVOLVEMENT BY A STATE COURT (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined a subpoena issued by the Attorney General of the United State Virgin Islands (USVI) should have been quashed for failure to comply with CPLR 3119:
The subpoena … failed to meet the procedural requirements for out-of-state subpoenas because it was not issued “under authority of a court of record” (see generally CPLR 3119[a][1], [4] … ). Although the subpoena need not have been issued in connection with a pending litigation, there must have been some court involvement, such as the issuance of a commission by a state court clerk or signature of the subpoena by a state court judge … . We reject respondents’ argument that administrative subpoenas are outside the scope of CPLR 3119 and not subject to any restrictions on issuance. Matter of American Express Co. v United States Virgin Is. Dept. of Justice, 2019 NY Slip Op 08618, First Dept 12-3-19