United States v. Bran

950 F. Supp. 2d 863, 2013 WL 2565518, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82743
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJune 11, 2013
DocketCriminal No. 3:12cr131-01
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 950 F. Supp. 2d 863 (United States v. Bran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bran, 950 F. Supp. 2d 863, 2013 WL 2565518, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82743 (E.D. Va. 2013).

Opinion

[866]*866MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROBERT E. PAYNE, Senior District Judge.

For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum Opinion and on the record on May 7, 2013, Jose Armando Bran’s (“Bran”) MOTION IN LIMINE TO DISMISS THE SECOND SUPERCEDING [sic] INDICTMENT (Docket No. 213 (sealed), 271 (redacted))1 was granted in part and denied in part by the Order dated May 8, 2013 (Docket No. 245).

INTRODUCTION

On December 4, 2012, Bran was charged in a Second Superseding Indictment with Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5), Murder in Aid of Racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1) and 2, Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence Causing Death to Another, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A) and 2, Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering, 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5), and Maiming in Aid of Racketeering Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(2) and 2. At their core, all of the charges proceed on the theory that Bran was the leader of the so-called Richmond Sailors Set of the gang La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly referred to as MS-13; that, in that capacity, Bran ordered the killing of two people, Osbin Hernandez-Gonzalez and Florentino Ayala. The defense theory was that Bran was not the leader of the Sailors Set; that only the leader can order a murder (or give a “green light”), and then only after consultation with MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, and that, therefore, Bran did not order the murders and those witnesses who say that Bran ordered the murders were lying.

On January 31, 2013, the Court entered an agreed upon discovery order which required, inter alia, that the United States produce all Jencks Act and Giglio materials to the defense not later than April 26, 2013; that the United States would include any Brady material contained in Jencks Act material at that time, and that the United States would, generally, comply with its obligations as required by Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) and United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). See Order dated January 31, 2013 (Docket No. 83) at 4-5.

On April 30, 2013, sixty days after the United States delivered the Jencks materials, Bran filed his Motion in limine and Memorandum in Support thereof alleging “apparent violations of Brady v. Maryland.” Bran therein advised that he had received from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond Anne Cabell Baskervill (“Baskervill”) a document identified in the memorandum as an “FBI 302,” which purported to reflect the information obtained during a February 21, 2012 interview of Jose “Biggie” Alvarenga (“Alvarenga”) at the Winchester Regional Jail in Winchester, Virginia.2 On [867]*867April 24, 2013, as part of the Jencks Act disclosure, the United States produced to the defense the official “302” of that interview. The crux of the defendant’s motion, at the time of filing, was that there were several “substantial differences” between the two documents which, taken as a whole, indicated that the FBI had edited its memorialization of the interview in order to “divert[] Mr. Bran away from a potential witness who would point out a significant inconsistency in the Government’s case.” Def. Mem. at 3.

In essence, Bran claimed that the FBI agents had altered the contents of the “302” in two significant ways. First, that the Baskervill version of the “302” indicated that approval for a “green-light” must come from MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, but that the Jencks version omitted that language. Id. at 2. According to the defense, “Mr. Bran’s phone records were produced by the Government and they do not reflect any phone calls made to El Salvador on the night of the murder.” Id. Thus, argued Bran, the FBI had manipulated the narrative in order to deemphasize the role that El Salvadoran leadership would have played in the death of Osbin Hemandez-Gonzalez (and, by extension, would have aided Bran’s defense by allowing him to argue that the lack of communication with El Salvador indicated that he had not participated in the authorization of the murder of Hernandez-Gonzalez).

The second alteration relating to information provided by Alvarenga concerned Mario Gonzalez-Ticas (“Ticas”), who was known as “Zatan.” At the end of the interview, Alvarenga agreed to review photographs and provide some information about certain individuals, one of whom was Ticas. In the Baskervill version of the “302”, Alvarenga is recorded as having identified Ticas as the leader of the Richmond Sailors Set following the deportation of the previous leader, “Spider.” In that version of the narrative, Alvarenga also explains that Ticas is still a member of MS-13; that Ticas had been deported and returned to the United States all the while remaining an MS-13 member; and that Ticas had never attempted to leave MS-13. In the Jencks Act version of the “302”, Alvarenga is merely reported to have said as to Ticas: “I know you know who this is.”

Bran’s motion sought relief under various theories including a Brady violation, a violation of Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8(d), and a violation of Department of Justice office protocol as set forth in the so-called “Ogden Memo.” Under all theories, however, Bran argued, in essence, that the FBI agents had altered the “302” between the version provided to the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the version provided to Bran’s counsel in order to obfuscate information that would cast doubt on the government’s theory of the case and to distract defense counsel away from material witnesses who might be able to provide evidence of actual innocence or who might be able to discredit the government’s evidence.

After the initial motion was filed, the United States provided the defense with additional disclosures relating to the investigation, and subsequent deportation, of Ticas. Included in the new material was information that, in late-September 2011, the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement had received information that, an individual, later identified as Ticas, had ordered the murder of a rival gang member in Chesterfield, Virginia. Special Agent Rosenberg of Homeland Security Investigations investigated that report and made contact with Ticas. At that time, Ticas was being held, pending deportation, at the Farmville [868]*868Detention Center following an arrest in Roanoke, Virginia for being drunk in public.

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Bluebook (online)
950 F. Supp. 2d 863, 2013 WL 2565518, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bran-vaed-2013.