Jabar v. U.S. Department of Justice

62 F.4th 44
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedFebruary 23, 2023
Docket22-226
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 62 F.4th 44 (Jabar v. U.S. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jabar v. U.S. Department of Justice, 62 F.4th 44 (2d Cir. 2023).

Opinion

22-226 Jabar v. U.S. Department of Justice

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit

August Term, 2022 No. 22-226

STEVE SATAR JABAR, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Defendant-Appellee.

On Appeal from a Judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

SUBMITTED: JANUARY 23, 2023 DECIDED: FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Before: CABRANES and NARDINI, Circuit Judges, and RAKOFF, District Judge. *

* Judge Jed S. Rakoff, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. Plaintiff-Appellant Steve Satar Jabar appeals from a decision by the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (John Sinatra, Jr., J.) granting summary judgment to the United States Department of Justice. Jabar sued the Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, seeking documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation related to himself, speculating that they might include exculpatory information that the government had not disclosed in his recent criminal trial. The government produced 21 sets of responsive documents and an index detailing FOIA exemptions under which it withheld other responsive documents, and the district court granted summary judgment for the government. On appeal, Jabar argues (1) that summary judgment was improperly granted because his FOIA action is an effort to vindicate his rights under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and (2) that, in the alternative, the district court erred in not conducting an in camera inspection of withheld documents. We hold otherwise. As we explained in Brown v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 658 F.2d 71, 76 (2d Cir. 1981), FOIA and the criminal discovery process provide distinct tracks for seeking disclosure from the government. That a FOIA action might lead to the discovery of documents useful to a particular criminal defendant changes neither the government’s statutorily defined obligations under FOIA, nor the government’s burden at summary judgment. We therefore AFFIRM the district court.

Michael Kuzma, Law Office of Michael Kuzma, Buffalo, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Daniel Tenny and David L. Peters, for Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Washington, D.C., and

2 for Trini E. Ross, United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, Buffalo, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.

PER CURIAM:

In 2016, a federal jury found Steve Satar Jabar guilty of wire

fraud and related charges stemming from his misuse of thousands of

dollars from a United Nations grant. One month after the guilty

verdict, Jabar asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn over

all documents related to him under the Freedom of Information Act

(“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, speculating that they might include

exculpatory information that the government had not disclosed in his

criminal trial. While awaiting a response, Jabar filed this FOIA action

against the United States Department of Justice, of which the FBI is a

part. The government eventually produced 21 sets of responsive

documents and an index detailing FOIA exemptions under which it

withheld other responsive documents. The government then moved

for summary judgment, including with its motion an affidavit

3 detailing its search methodologies, the FOIA exemptions under

which it withheld documents, and its efforts to redact and produce

segregable portions of exempt documents. The district court declined

to review the withheld documents in camera and granted the

government’s motion for summary judgment. Jabar now appeals,

arguing (1) that summary judgment was improperly granted because

his FOIA action is an effort to vindicate his rights under Brady v.

Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and (2) that, in the alternative, the district

court erred in not conducting an in camera inspection of withheld

documents.

We hold otherwise. As we explained in Brown v. Federal Bureau

of Investigation, 658 F.2d 71, 75 (2d Cir. 1981), FOIA and the criminal

discovery process provide distinct tracks for seeking disclosure from

the government. That a FOIA action might help a particular criminal

defendant discover documents useful to his defense changes neither

the government’s statutory obligations under FOIA, nor the

4 government’s burden at summary judgment. Accordingly, the

district court properly granted summary judgment to the

government. Further, the district court acted well within its

discretion in declining to conduct in camera review of the withheld

documents, as the government’s affidavit described its efforts to

search, review, and redact documents with sufficient particularity for

the court to decline in camera review, and Jabar failed to challenge the

veracity of the government’s declaration. We therefore AFFIRM the

judgment of the district court.

I. Background

Plaintiff-Appellant Steve Satar Jabar moved to the United

States from Iraq in 1989 and became a United States citizen in 1996.

In 1995, Jabar and Deborah Bowers founded a non-profit organization

called Opportunities for Kids International (“OKI”) to assist refugees

in New York. See United States v. Jabar, 19 F.4th 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2021),

cert. denied sub nom. Bowers v. United States, 142 S. Ct. 1396 (2022)

(mem.).

5 In June 2004, Jabar and Bowers applied on behalf of OKI to the

United Nations Development Fund for Women for a $500,474 grant

to establish a radio station in Iraq called Voice of Women, intended to

broadcast educational programming to women. Id. at 72–73. On

December 15, 2004, OKI received the first $350,000 disbursement of

that grant. Id. at 73. Jabar and Bowers, however, did not comply with

the grant’s financial reporting requirements, and converted more

than $65,000 of those funds to personal use. Id. at 73–74. In 2005, the

Internal Revenue Service began investigating OKI based on multiple

suspicious activity reports from financial institutions, and on May 21,

2009, a grand jury in the Western District of New York indicted Jabar

and Bowers on fraud, money laundering, and false statement charges.

Id. at 74–75.

On September 2, 2016, at a trial before Judge Lawrence J.

Vilardo, a jury convicted Jabar and Bowers of conspiring to commit

wire fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements. Id. at 75. Jabar

6 moved for a judgment of acquittal under Rule 29 and, in the

alternative, for a new trial under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of

Criminal Procedure. Id. On September 27, 2017, the district court,

citing insufficient evidence, granted his post-verdict motion for

acquittal as to the conspiracy and wire fraud charges. Id. The

government appealed and, on November 19, 2021, our Court reversed

the acquittal and remanded the case to the district court for

consideration of Jabar’s new trial motion. Id. at 72. Jabar’s motion for

a new trial remains pending before Judge Vilardo.

By letter dated October 10, 2016, Jabar submitted a request to

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