United States v. Baez

District Court, District of Columbia·Decided November 25, 2024·No. Criminal No. 2021-0507·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. Criminal No. 21-0507 (PLF) STEPHANIE MARYLOU BAEZ, Defendant. ) OPINION AND ORDER

Defendant Stephanie Marylou Baez is charged with violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c) and 2. See Third Superseding Indictment [Dkt. No. 103]; see also Memorandum Opinion and Order (D.D.C. Nov. 18, 2024) (“MTD Opinion”) [Dkt. No. 119]. A bench trial in this case is scheduled to begin on December 3, 2024. See Third Amended Scheduling Order [Dkt. No. 108]. In anticipation of trial, Ms. Baez has filed three motions seeking to suppress or limit the kinds of evidence the government can introduce at trial. The Court has carefully considered the parties’ written submission and the applicable authorities. For the following

reasons, the Court denies Ms. Baez’s motions. !

1 The papers reviewed by the Court in connection with this matter include: Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Preclude Defendant’s Statements at Misdemeanor Change-of- Plea Hearing (“Suppress Plea Stmt. Mem.”) [Dkt. No. 111]; Defendant Stephanie Marylou Baez’s Motion to Suppress Interview with Agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation and Motion in Limine with Included Memorandum of Law (“Suppress Law Enforcement Stmt. Mem.”) [Dkt. No. 112]; Defendant Stephanie Marylou Baez’s Motions in Limine with Included Memorandum of Law (“Omnibus Mot. Mem.”) [Dkt. No. 113]; Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motions in Limine (“Omnibus Mot. Opp.”) [Dkt. No. 116]; Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Preclude Defendant’s Statements at Misdemeanor Change of Plea Hearing (“Suppress Plea Stmt. Opp.”) [Dkt. No. 117]; Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Interview with Agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation (“Suppress Law Enforcement Stmt. Opp.”) [Dkt. No. 118]; Suppress Law Enforcement Stmt. I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Courts evaluate the admissibility of evidence on a pretrial motion in limine according to the framework established by Rules 401 and 402 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

See Daniels v. District of Columbia, 15 F. Supp. 3d 62, 66-67 (D.D.C. 2014); see also United

States v. Sutton, 636 F. Supp. 3d 179, 190 (D.D.C. 2022); Democracy Partners, LLC v. Project

Veritas Action Fund, Civil Action No. 17-1047, 2022 WL 3334689, at *3 (D.D.C.

Aug. 12, 2022); accord United States v. Warnagiris, Crim. No. 21-0382 (PLF), 2023

WL 6973213, at *2 (D.D.C. Oct. 23, 2023). First, “the Court must assess whether the evidence

is relevant.” Daniels v. District of Columbia, 15 F. Supp. 3d at 66. “Evidence is relevant if: (a)

it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action.” FED. R. Evip. 401. “Relevant evidence is admissible” unless an applicable authority provides otherwise, whereas “[i]rrelevant evidence is not admissible.” FED. R. EVID. 402. The proponent of admitting an item of evidence

has the initial burden of establishing relevance. See Dowling v. United States, 493 U.S. 342, 351

n.3 (1990); United States v. Oseguera Gonzalez, 507 F. Supp. 3d 137, 147 (D.D.C. 2020).

Even if the proponent of an item of evidence can demonstrate its relevance, however, a court may still conclude that it is inadmissible if “the United States Constitution; a federal statute; [the Federal Rules of Evidence]; or other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court” provide for its exclusion. FED. R. EVID. 402. Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence states

that a court may “exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by

Opp., Exhibit 2 (“Interview Transcript”) [Dkt. No. 118-1]; and Suppress Law Enforcement Stmt. Opp., Exhibit 3 (“Text Log”) [Dkt. No. 118-2]. a danger of .. . unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting

time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.” FED. R. EvID. 403.

II. DISCUSSION Ms. Baez moves to preclude or limit the government from presenting certain evidence at trial. The bench trial will relate to the single felony charge brought against Ms. Baez for alleged violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c) and 2. See Third Superseding Indictment. Section 1512(c) provides: (c) Whoever corruptly — (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use

in an official proceeding; or

(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,

shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 1512(c).

At the onset it is worth highlighting the breadth of evidence covered by Ms. Baez’s motions. Across her three motions, Ms. Baez seeks to exclude essentially all background information related to the events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, see Omnibus Mot. Mem., all of the statements she made in connection with her plea hearing, see Suppress Plea Stmt. Mem., and all statements she made to law enforcement. See Suppress Law Enforcement Stmt. Mem. The expansiveness of her requests results in the parties somewhat

skirting the difficult issue of determining what evidence is relevant for purposes of proving a Section 1512(c) violation — a question of even greater significance given the Supreme Court’s

recent decision in Fischer v. United States, 603 U.S. 480 (2024).

The fact that the case is proceeding to a bench trial, however, mitigates some of the problems presented in Ms. Baez’s sweeping motions. The balancing test outlined in

Rule 403 “‘has a highly limited application, if any at all’ in a bench trial.” United States v. Bray,

Crim. No. 23-306 (RC), 2024 WL 3723942, at *2 (D.D.C. Aug. 8, 2024) (quoting United States v. Fitzsimons, 605 F. Supp. 3d 92, 100 n.6 (D.D.C. 2022)). This is particularly the case where the Rule 403 challenge is premised on “unfair prejudice,” with some courts going as far as

deeming Rule 403 a “useless procedure” in the context of a bench trial. United States v. Griffith,

Crim. No. 21-244-2 (CKK), 2023 WL 2043223, at *2 (D.D.C. Feb. 16, 2023) (quoting Gulf

States Utils. Co. v. Ecodyne Corp., 635 F.2d 517, 519 (Sth Cir. 1981)). The Court therefore need

not define the precise scope of relevance within the broad categories of evidence Ms.

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