United States v. Countryside Farms, Inc.

428 F. Supp. 1150, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18034
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedJanuary 7, 1977
DocketCrim. A. 75-76
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 428 F. Supp. 1150 (United States v. Countryside Farms, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Countryside Farms, Inc., 428 F. Supp. 1150, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18034 (D. Utah 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

WINNER, Chief Judge, Sitting by Designation.

This memorandum opinion and order rules on what I think are all except one of the motions in this case pending as of January 5, 1977. Many of the rulings contained herein were made orally during the January 5, 1977, hearing, but one ruling has been delayed to permit the filing of another brief by defendants and another was postponed *1153 to permit an in camera inspection requested by defendants. 1 The motions are:

1. Government Motion for Clarification of January 20, 1976, order.
2. Government Motion for Return of Documents. [The government substituted this motion for an earlier motion asking reconsideration of an order regarding the document depository.]
3. Government Motion for Discovery (from defendant Snow White) under Rule 16(b).
4. Government Amended Motion for Discovery (from defendants, Countryside, Christofferson, Egg Products, Olson Farms and Cochran) under Rule 16(b).
5. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Denial of Speedy Trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. [I treat this motion as raising Fifth Amendment grounds.]
6. Defendants’ Motion to Permit Inspection of Grand Jury Minutes.
7. Defendants’ Motion to Provide Record of Jurors Concurring in the Indictment.
8. Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12. This Motion is argued in four parts:
(a) Intentional delay in return of indictment.
(b) Violation of Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.
(c) Intentional interference with right to counsel.
(d) Double jeopardy.
9. Motion to Dismiss under Rule 16(d)(2).
10. Motion to Suppress Evidence.
11. Motion for Further Particulars.
12. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Denial of Speedy Trial on grounds other than Fifth and Sixth Amendment grounds.

Government Motion for Clarification

The government says that the order of January 20, 1976, if interpreted as defendants arguably could say it should be, would be impossible to comply with. The government says that under paragraph one of the order it has supplied all evidence known to the government concerning meetings, telephone calls, and actions having to do with claims of monopoly and allocation of territories. The government says that it has not and that it cannot realistically be asked to supply the details of every daily price which prevailed during the period of the alleged conspiracy, nor can it say what the daily prices would have been had no agreement existed. It is urged that to attempt to supply requested information would require a compilation of 14,000 prices in addition to the 1,500 prices supplied to defendants which the government intends' to use at trial.' The government represents that the requested information which has not.been supplied will not be used at time of trial, and it has agreed to be bound by this representation.

In approaching this motion and the companion motions, it is to be remembered that the amendments to Rule 16, F.R:Cr.P. had been in effect less than two months on January 20, 1976, and that even now there is not much case authority explaining the amendments. United States v. Nobles (1975), 422 U.S. 225, 95 S.Ct. 2160, 45 L.Ed.2d 141, which discusses Rule 16, F.R. Cr.P., had then been but recently published, and the Advisory Committee notes to the Rule 16 amendments were not readily available for study. Amended Rule 16(a)(1)(C) is to me quite understandable. It says:

“Upon request of the defendant, the government shall permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings or places, or copies or portions thereof, which are within the possession, custody or control of the government, and which are material to *1154 the preparation of his defense or are intended for use by the government as evidence in chief at the trial, or were obtained from or belong to the defendant.”

The Advisory Committee explained:

“Subdivision (a)(1)(C) gives a right of discovery of certain tangible objects under the specified circumstances. Courts have construed the old rule as making disclosure discretionary with the judge. (Cf. United States v. Kaminsky, 275 F.Supp. 365 (S.D.N.Y.1967); Gevinson v. United States, 358 F.2d 761 (5th Cir. 1966); and United States v. Tanner, 279 F.Supp. 457 (N.D.Ill.1967). The old rule requires a ‘showing of materiality to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable.’ The new rule requires disclosure if any one of three situations exists: (a) the defendant shows that disclosure of the document or tangible object is material to the defense, (b) the government intends to use the document or tangible object in its presentation of its case in chief, or (c) the document or tangible object was obtained from or belongs to the defendant.
“Limiting the rule to situations in which the defendant can show that the evidence is material seems unwise. It may be difficult for a defendant to make this showing if he does not know what the evidence is. For this reason subdivision (a)(1)(C) also contains language to' compel disclosure that if the government intends to use the property as evidence at the trial or if the property was obtained from or belongs to the defendant. . . .”

The Committee note discusses the applicability of Brady v. State of Maryland (1963), 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194,10 L.Ed.2d 215, to Rule 16, and, understandably, the Committee concluded that “Brady material” must be furnished. The Supreme Court said in Brady that the prosecution must furnish all “evidence favorable to an accused . . . where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.” What is evidence favorable to an accused, material to either guilt or punishment, is a question which has plagued prosecutors for almost 15 years, and the only course to be followed by a prudent prosecutor is to supply any evidence which is even arguably favorable to a defendant on the question of guilt or on the question of punishment. That it may be burdensome to supply such evidence is no excuse, and it is unimportant if the government fails in good faith to supply exculpatory evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
428 F. Supp. 1150, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-countryside-farms-inc-utd-1977.