Bin Attash v. Obama

628 F. Supp. 2d 24, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53232, 2009 WL 1765648
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJune 11, 2009
DocketCivil Action 05-1592 (RCL)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 628 F. Supp. 2d 24 (Bin Attash v. Obama) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bin Attash v. Obama, 628 F. Supp. 2d 24, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53232, 2009 WL 1765648 (D.D.C. 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.

Now before the Court are three discovery motions [176] filed by petitioner Bin Attash. Petitioner has filed motions to compel: (1) exculpatory evidence and automatic discovery pursuant to §§ I.D.l and I.E.l of the Amended Case Management Order (2) evidence relating to physical and psychological coercion; and (3) additional permissive discovery. Upon consideration of the motions, the consolidated opposition, the consolidated reply, and the consolidated surreply, the motions will be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part for the reasons set forth below.

I. BACKGROUND

This Court is operating under the Case Management Order (“CMO”) [125] entered on November 6, 2008, as amended [140] on December 16, 2008. Section I.D.l of the Amended CMO requires the government to “disclose to the petitioner all reasonably available evidence in its possession that tends materially to undermine the information presented to support the government’s justification for holding the petitioner.” “Reasonably available evidence” is defined as “evidence contained in any information reviewed by attorneys preparing factual returns for all detainees; it is not limited to evidence discovered by the attorneys preparing factual returns for the petitioner.” § I.D.l. The government has certified that it has provided all exculpatory information pursuant to § I.D.l of the Amended CMO [173], and the petitioner has filed motions asserting that the government has failed to comply with the CMO by neglecting to turn over various items.

In addition to exculpatory information, the Amended CMO also requires, that if requested by the petitioner, the government shall disclose:

(1) any documents and objects in the government’s possession that the government relies on to justify detention;
(2) all statements, in whatever form, made or adopted by the petitioner that the government relies on to justify detention; and (3) information about the circumstances in which such statements of the petitioner were made or adopted.

Amended CMO § I.E.l.

Finally the petitioner has moved for five types of “good cause” discovery, as permitted if the petitioner meets the four-part test in Section I.E.2 of the Case Management Order.

*31 II. APPLICABLE LAW

In response to the petitioner’s request for exculpatory information, the Court is operating under the following legal framework: First, the Court must scrutinize whether the petitioner has made specific requests for exculpatory information. If he has not, the Court will not order further evidence production. See Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 59, 107 S.Ct. 989, 94 L.Ed.2d 40 (1987) (“In the typical case where a defendant makes only a general request for exculpatory material under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), it is the State that decides which information must be disclosed.”). See also United States v. Brooks, 966 F.2d 1500, 1505 (D.C.Cir.1992) (stating that in camera review of alleged Brady material by the district court is unnecessary unless the defendant identifies specific exculpatory evidence that the prosecution withheld”) (internal citations omitted).

If the requested information is specific and exculpatory on its face, the Court will order that the government turn it over to the petitioner. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) (“[Suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment ... ”). If, however, the petitioner has raised a colorable claim that certain information is exculpatory (as defined by the CMO), but the Court cannot conclusively rule on its character absent an examination of the evidence, the Court will scrutinize the evidence in camera. Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 59, 107 S.Ct. 989, 94 L.Ed.2d 40 (1987) (“A defendant’s right to discover exculpatory evidence does not include the unsupervised authority to search through the [government’s] files.”). If, after in camera examination, the Court concludes that the evidence is exculpatory, it will order that it be produced to the petitioner. Finally, if the petitioner has failed to make a specific, colorable claim that the discovery requested does in fact contain exculpatory information, the Court will deny the petitioner’s request.

With the relevant legal framework in place, the Court will now turn to the evidence requested by the petitioner.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Petitioner’s Motion for Exculpatory Information and Automatic Discovery

The petitioner has filed a motion for production of exculpatory information and automatic discovery, making various discovery requests. The Court will take each request in turn.

1. The August 29, 2006 CITF Report of the Interrogation of [redacted]

In the factual return, the government alleges that petitioner bin Attash was involved in a plot to destroy American vessels in the Straits of Hormuz. The government alleges that Attash’s role was to purchase necessary items for the plot in the local community. Factual Return ¶ 33. It also alleges that the petitioner “expressed his knowledge” that the ship was “to be used to transport weapons, explosives, and possible uranium.... ” Factual Return ¶ 34. Petitioner’s counsel state that they have seen 1 an August 29, 2006 interrogation report of another detainee at Guantanamo Bay, [redacted] ([redacted]), in which [redacted] discusses the alleged *32 plot in detail but does not mention petitioner’s name as someone who was involved. Further, petitioner states that [redacted] explains that the boat he purchased (the boat the government alleges was used in the Straits of Hormuz plot) was intended to be used for a small cargo business. Petitioner’s discovery request is specific; however, the evidence requested is merely neutral, and not exculpatory, [redacted] failure to mention the petitioner in the August 29, 2006 report may not be inculpatory; however, it also does not tend to undermine anything in the factual return. Moreover, the fact that [redacted] states that the boat was to be used for the small cargo business also does not undermine the government’s justification for holding the petitioner. The government alleges that the petitioner expressed knowledge that a boat to be used in the plot was to be purchased.

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Bluebook (online)
628 F. Supp. 2d 24, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53232, 2009 WL 1765648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bin-attash-v-obama-dcd-2009.