Free Motion for Discovery - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cr-03450-JLS

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Filed 01/22/2008

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MICHAEL L. CROWLEY (117008) Attorney at Law 550 West "C" Street, Suite 1960 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 444-8808 Attorney for Defendant

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
(Honorable Janis L. Sammartino) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) v. ) ) ) MANUEL AGUIRRE-SEPUVEDA, ) ) Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) _______________________________ )

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Case No.: 07CR3450-JLS POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF MOTIONS FOR DISCOVERY AND FURTHER MOTIONS

DATE: February 15, 2008 TIME: 1:30 p.m. PLACE: Courtroom of the Honorable Janis L. Sammartino

FACTUAL STATEMENT This case is a classic boarder bust where the defendant was apprehended with approximately 68 kilograms of marijuana concealed in a floor compartment of the vehicle the defendant was driving. I. DISCOVERY The government must disclose the information requested in this motion for discovery under the obligations of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963). Moreover, a defendant's entitlement to due process of law, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance counsel, impose additional requirements on the Court and prosecution to ensure the production of fair discovery.

Case 3:07-cr-03450-JLS

Document 11-2

Filed 01/22/2008

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All of the requests are for items within the possession, custody, or control of either state or the federal government. This, of course, includes attorneys for the government, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and in potentially other government agents, officials, employees, or informants participating in the investigation or prosecution of the matters involved in this case whether under state or federal authority. It has been held repeatedly that the government's discovery obligations extend to materials in the possession, custody or control of all its agencies and agents. See, e.g. United States v. Beasley, 576 F.2d 625, 632 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Bryant, 439 F.2d 642, 650 (D.C. Cir. 1971); United States v. James, 495 F.2d 434, 436 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Deutsch, 475 F.2d 55, 57 (5th Cir. 1973). This proposition was further reiterated in the United States Supreme Court case of Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L. Ed. 2d 490 (1995) in which the court stated: "[T]he prosecution, which alone can know what is undisclosed, which alone can know what is undisclosed, must be assigned the consequent responsibility to gauge the likely net effect of all such evidence and make disclosure when the point of "reasonable probability" is reached. This in turn means that the individual prosecutor has a duty to learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government's behalf in the case, including the police. But whether the prosecutor succeeds or fails in meeting this obligation (whether, that is, a failure to disclose is in good faith or bad faith, see Brady, 373 U.S. at 87), the

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Case 3:07-cr-03450-JLS

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Filed 01/22/2008

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prosecution's responsibility for failing to disclose known, favorable evidence rising to a material level of importance is inescapable." Id. 115 S.Ct. at 1567. II. FURTHER MOTIONS As pointed out in the notice of motion, there is additional discovery likely to be produced by the government should this case not settle, which will likely lead to the necessity for additional motions. CONCLUSION Defendant respectfully requests that the above-enumerated motions be granted for the reasons stated.

DATE: January 22, 2008 /s/ Michael L. Crowley Michael L. Crowley, Esq. Attorney for Defendant MANUEL AGUIRRE-SEPUVEDA

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