Free Motion for Discovery - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:02-cv-01632-FMA

Document 22

Filed 08/19/2004

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) __________________________________________) NORTH STAR ALASKA HOUSING CORPORATION,

Nos. 98-168C, 02-1632C, 03-2699C Judge Francis M. Allegra

PLAINTIFF'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO STOP THE GOVERNMENT'S DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS Plaintiff North Star Alaska Housing Corporation ("North Star"), through counsel, hereby moves this Court to intervene and stop the Government's destruction of documents. North Star and the Government's offices are housed in the same complex in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. To the best of North Star's knowledge, the Government offices at Fort Wainwright are used for the sole purpose of administration of the Lease for Birchwood Homes. On Tuesday, August 17, 2004, as she was leaving the office at approximately 4:30 p.m., North Star's office administrator, Deb Reese, heard the sounds of a paper shredder coming from the Government's office. She observed approximately three people whom she had never seen before standing around the Contracting Officer's Representative, Rodney Everett. One of these people, a tall woman with blonde hair who was standing with her back to Ms. Reese, was holding approximately 20 pages of documents and running them through a paper shredder. Counsel for North Star was alerted and immediately left a voicemail for counsel for the Government demanding that he put a stop to the document destruction. Discovery is outstanding in Case No. 98-168C, had not yet begun in Case Nos. 02-1632C and 03-2699C, and the Government is aware that additional complaints will be filed. Its apparent actions to destroy

Case 1:02-cv-01632-FMA

Document 22

Filed 08/19/2004

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documents while litigation is pending is inexcusable, and the penultimate indicator of its bad faith dealings with North Star. North Star respectfully moves this Court to order the Government to stop any further destruction of documents and to provide an affidavit detailing with specificity what documents were shredded.

DATED: August 19, 2004

Respectfully submitted, s/ Paul W. Killian ____________________________________ PAUL W. KILLIAN Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. 1333 New Hampshire Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 887-4000

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Case 1:02-cv-01632-FMA

Document 22

Filed 08/19/2004

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Plaintiff's Emergency Motion to Stop the Government's Destruction of Documents was served electronically on this 19th day of August, 2004 upon:

Donald E. Kinner, Esq. Assistant Director Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Attorney for Defendant s/ Paul W. Killian ________________________ Paul W. Killian

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