In the federal government investigation of steroid use by Major League Baseball players, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District reversed two orders requiring the return of property seized from two laboratories, Consolidated Drug Testing, Inc. and Quest Diagnostics, as well as an order to quash a grand jury subpoena. The government had obtained warrants authorizing seizure of test results and records for ten named Major League Baseball players, which resulted in the seizure of data intermingled with the results of other players. In addition, an entire computer directory of files was copied and searched. The Major League Baseball Player’s Association objected to the overbreadth of the search and obtained orders to return seized property unrelated to the ten specified players. After reviewing the three orders, a divided Court of Appeals held that the seizure of intermingled data was legal and did not constitute “wholesale seizure.” Moreover, the intermingled evidence need only be sealed and presented to a neutral magistrate for review upon proper objection by the aggrieved party. Thus, all three orders were reversed, although the cases of seized property were remanded for magistrate review of the evidence.
United States. v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, (9th Cir. Dec. 27, 2006).