Section 5.39 Post-Indictment

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

b. (§5.39) Post-Indictment

If the effort to stay civil proceedings is being made following the filing of a formal criminal charge, the motion for stay should be filed with the judge assigned to the criminal case. This is less cumbersome than filing a separate civil action and has the additional advantage of the request for stay being heard by a judge who is intimately familiar with the nature of the criminal proceedings and thus better able to evaluate the impact the civil case may have on the constitutional rights of the accused. Of course, the judge assigned to the criminal case is required to weigh the interests of the agency or private litigant in a prompt disposition of the civil case against the interest of the defendant in obtaining a fair trial in the criminal action. The court may grant a temporary stay, Gordon v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 427 F.2d 578 (D.C. Cir. 1970), or may stay all proceedings in the civil action until the criminal case has been fully and finally completed, Texaco, Inc. v. Borda, 383 F.2d 607 (3^rd Cir. 1967). But see General Dynamics Corp. v. Selb Manufacturing Co., 481 F.2d 1204 (8^th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1162 (1974), in...