ATLANTA — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case in which a California-based medical diagnostic testing company and it’s top officers were indicted for health care fraud, money laundering and tax evasion seems an unlikely case to launch a constitutional rights movement for executives, with a national group of in-house lawyers leading the charge. But that is exactly what has happened.
A recent ruling from the Ninth Circuit in U.S. v. SDI Future Health said that the subpoena for a search of company property was inappropriately broad and thus the evidence obtained could not be used against the corporation. However, the ruling allowed the seized material to be used against the corporate executives under investigation for the same matter. Under the ruling, the individuals can only challenge the search if the evidence seized is their own personal property — such as a purse or a briefcase.
