03/02/2020 In re 381 Search Warrants Directed to Facebook, Inc. :: 2017 :: New York Court of Appeals Decisions :: New York Case Law :: New York Law :: US … jurisdiction over "final decisions" of the federal district courts (28 USC § 1291). A final decision is one that, unlike the orders at issue here, "'ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment'" (Coopers & Lybrand v Livesay, 437 US 463, 467 [1978], quoting Catlin v United States, 324 US 229, 233 [1945]). Generally, due to this limitation on federal appellate jurisdiction, "one to whom a subpoena is directed may not appeal the denial of a motion to quash that subpoena but must either obey its commands or refuse to do [*10]so and contest the validity of the subpoena if he is subsequently cited for contempt on account of his failure to obey" (United States v Ryan, 402 US 530, 532 [1971]; see Cobbledick v United States, 309 US 323, 330 [1940]). As the dissent notes, federal courts have held that "[a] district court order enforcing a subpoena issued by a government agency in connection with an administrative investigation may be appealed immediately without first performing the ritual of obtaining a contempt order" (United States v Construction Prods. Research, Inc., 73 F3d 464, 468 [2d Cir 1996] [emphases added]). However, this is a narrow exception to the general rule barring appeals from motions to quash due to a lack of finality, which rule "applies whether the subpoena is issued in connection with civil and criminal actions, or grand jury proceedings, and whether the person (or entity) seeking to prevent enforcement of the subpoena is a party to the litigation or a non-party witness" (Matter of Air Crash at Belle Harbor, New York on November 12, 2001, 490 F3d 99, 104 [2d Cir 2007]; Construction Prods. Research, Inc., 73 F3d at 469; see 28 USC § 1291; Ryan, 402 US at 532-533). Notably, the exception permitting appeals of administrative subpoenas has not been extended to warrants, as "[a]n order denying the suppression of evidence or denying a motion to quash a warrant in a criminal trial is interlocutory and generally not appealable by a private party until a final judgment in the case has been rendered" (Matter of 949 Erie St., Racine, Wis., 824 F2d 538, 540 [7th Cir 1987]; see Matter of Consol. Rail Corp., 631 F2d 1122, 1125 [3d Cir 1980]; see also Di Bella v United States, 369 US 121, 129 [1962] ["An order granting or denying a pre-indictment motion to suppress does not fall within any class of independent proceedings otherwise recognized by this Court, and there is every practical reason for denying it such recognition. To regard such a disjointed ruling . . . as the termination of an independent proceeding, with full panoply of appeal and attendant stay, entails serious disruption to the conduct of a criminal trial"]; Matter of Search of Elec. Communications in the Account of chakafattah gmail.com at Internet Serv. Provider Google, Inc., 802 F3d 516, 525 [3d Cir 2015]). This makes sense because the rationale behind the exception allowing appeals of administrative subpoenas is that an "administrative proceeding is self-contained and, unlike in the case of a grand jury or trial, there is no 'further judicial inquiry which would be halted were the offending [subpoenaed party] permitted to appeal'" (Matter of Air Crash at Belle Harbor, 490 F3d at 105, quoting https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/court-of-appeals/2017/16.html 10/44