In People v. Cipolla (184 Misc 2d 880), the Court granted a newspaper's application for disclosure of the Grand Jury minutes. There, county officials had been sued civilly in Federal court on the basis that they had caused falsified documents to be presented to the Grand Jury and at the trial that resulted in the acquittal of the criminal defendants. These public officials successfully argued that they needed the Grand Jury minutes to defend against the Federal action. When the local publishing company also moved for disclosure, the court granted the release, reasoning that the Grand Jury record could "reach the public via the Federal courts no matter what happens here" (at 882), and the integrity of the Grand Jury and county government was called into question, which was a matter of serious public concern.