USA v. Claus

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 	CRIMINAL ACTION
VERSUS 	NO. 24-155
CHRISTIAN CONRAD CLAUS 	SECTION: D (2)
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is a Motion for Issuance of a Rule 17 Subpoena filed by the
Defendant 	Christian 	Conrad 	Claus.1 	The 	Government 	has 	filed 	a 	response 	in
opposition.2 Defendant seeks a subpoena to compel the testimony of FBI Special Agent
Brent Korhn at a suppression hearing on May 26, 2026.3
“Generally, Rule 17(a) subpoenas may issue where a defendant seeks testimony
that is relevant and material to the issue being litigated.”4 The decision to grant or deny
a motion under Fed. R. Crim P. 17(b) is “vested in the sound discretion of the trial
court,”5 which is “is narrowed by the defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.”6
The statements at issue in the present Motion to Suppress were made to Special Agent
Korhn, and Defendant avers that the subpoena ad testificandum is necessary to
“establish 	the 	coercive 	circumstances 	surrounding 	[Defendant’s] 	June 	25, 	2021
statement.”7
Accordingly,
1 R. Doc. 141.
2 R. Doc. 144.
3 R. Doc. 141 at p. 1.
4 United States v. Bebris, 4 F.4th 551, 559 (7th Cir. 2021) (citing Stern v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for Dist. of Mass.,
214 F.3d 4, 17 (1st Cir. 2000)).
5 United States v. Bowman, 636 F.2d 1003, 1013 (5th Cir.1981).
6 United States v. Howard, No. CRIM.A. 12-1, 2014 WL 1249512, at *1 (E.D. La. Mar. 26, 2014) (Feldman,
J.).
7 R. Doc. 141 at p. 3.
Case 2:24-cr-00155-WBV-DPC Document 146 Filed 05/22/26 Page 1 of 2

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion8 is GRANTED. A subpoena shall
issue.9 Any objection as to the Special Agent’s testimony itself will be addressed during
the hearing.
New Orleans, Louisiana, May 22, 2026.
______________________________
WENDY B. VITTER
United States District Judge
8 R. Doc. 141.
9 R. Doc. 141-2.
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