United States v. Jacobs

650 F. Supp. 2d 160, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77702, 2009 WL 2710233
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedAugust 31, 2009
Docket3:08-cv-00211
StatusPublished

This text of 650 F. Supp. 2d 160 (United States v. Jacobs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Jacobs, 650 F. Supp. 2d 160, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77702, 2009 WL 2710233 (D. Conn. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

HAIGHT, Senior District Judge:

This case comes before the Court upon eleven pretrial motions filed by defendant Dwayne Jacobs (“Jacobs”), all of which relate to the preservation, discovery, or disclosure of materials sought for the purpose of assisting in Jacobs’s defense. The Court has examined those motions and the government’s response and determined that these motions do not require oral argument.

I. Background

Jacobs is charged with two drug-related criminal counts. Count One charges him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute five grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), & 846. Count Two charges him with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) & 841(b)(1)(C).

Jacobs was arrested and presented on these charges on November 4, 2008. On March 18, 2009, the government filed notice of its intent to rely on a prior conviction that subjects the defendant to the enhanced sentencing provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b).

Jacobs originally had a co-defendant, Keisha Rhodes. On June 4, 2009, defendant Rhodes entered guilty pleas on four counts, including Count One (the conspiracy count) and three separate counts that did not name Jacobs as a defendant.

In a Scheduling Order dated May 1, 2009 [doc. # 51], this Court set jury selection to begin on September 22, 2009, with trial to commence immediately thereafter.

II. Defendant’s Motion for Disclosure of Specific Brady Material [doc. # 72], and Defendant’s Motion for Giglio Material [doc. #74]

A. Standard for Pretrial Production of Materials

In criminal prosecutions, the government must produce “evidence favor *164 able 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.” Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). This obligation also includes evidence that can be used to impeach a government witness. Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154-55, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972). “Brady does not, however, require the prosecution to disclose all exculpatory and impeachment material; it need disclose only material ‘that, if suppressed, would deprive the defendant of a fair trial.’ ” United States v. Coppa, 267 F.3d 132, 135 (2d Cir.2001) (emphasis in Coppa) (quoting United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 675, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985)). The prosecutor’s disclosure obligations “extend[ ] only to material evidence ... that is known to the prosecutor.” United States v. Avellino, 136 F.3d 249, 255 (2d Cir.1998).

A prosecutor is presumed to know all information gathered by his office in connection with an investigation of the case. Id. Further, a prosecutor “has a duty to learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government’s behalf in the case.” Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995). 1

The prosecutor has a duty to discover Brady material because “the prosecution, which alone can know what is undisclosed, must be assigned the consequent responsibility to gauge the likely net effect of all such evidence and make disclosure when the point of ‘reasonable probability’ [of materiality] is reached.” Kyles, 514 U.S. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555. It follows that “[although the Court retains discretion to order additional pre-trial disclosures,” as a general principle “the responsibility for assessing whether evidence must be disclosed under Brady and Giglio rests with the government.” United States v. Stora Enso N. Am. Corp., No. 3:06-cr-323(CFD), 2007 WL 1630366, *2 (D.Conn. June 5, 2007) (Droney, J.); see also United States v. Ferguson, 478 F.Supp.2d 220, 242 (D.Conn.2007) (Droney, J.) (denying without prejudice a motion for Brady materials, “as far as the motion addresses the defendants’ concern that the government is not fully producing Brady and Giglio material”; the Court noted that prosecutors have “adequate incentive to make [disclosure] decisions appropriately (and conservatively) because ... a Brady violation can lead to the reversal of a conviction”).

As for the timing of the disclosures required by Brady, “material” exculpatory and impeachment information must be disclosed “no later than the point at which a reasonable probability will exist that the outcome would have been different if an earlier disclosure had been made.” Coppa, 267 F.3d at 142 (citing Leka v. Portuondo, 257 F.3d 89, 100 (2d Cir.2001)). “[W]e have never interpreted due process of law as requiring more than that Brady material must be disclosed in time for its effective use at trial.... ” 267 F.3d at 142. However, this District’s local rules create a more urgent disclosure obligation. See Standing Order on Discovery, D. Conn. Local R.Crim. P. app. ¶ (A)(ll) (requiring the government to disclose Brady materials “[w]ithin ten (10) days from the date of arraignment”). As Judge Arterton ex *165 plained, several years ago, “[t]he District’s local rule requiring disclosure of Brady materials ten days after arraignment is not, as Coppa makes clear, constitutionally compelled. It is instead based on the Court’s inherent power to manage its docket and provide for the orderly and timely disposition of cases.” United States v. Perez, 222 F.Supp.2d 164, 171 (D.Conn.2002) (footnote omitted).

B. Jacobs’s Requests and the Government’s Responses

Jacobs’s motions under Brady and Giglio appear to be standardized and formulaic requests for every possible type of information that might assist in his defense. Neither of the two motions nor their supporting memoranda describe any special circumstances in this case triggering Brady and Giglio

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Related

Roviaro v. United States
353 U.S. 53 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Giglio v. United States
405 U.S. 150 (Supreme Court, 1972)
United States v. Bagley
473 U.S. 667 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Kyles v. Whitley
514 U.S. 419 (Supreme Court, 1995)
United States v. de la Cruz Paulino
61 F.3d 986 (First Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Marion White
324 F.2d 814 (Second Circuit, 1963)
United States v. Henry C. Percevault
490 F.2d 126 (Second Circuit, 1974)
United States v. Carmine Avellino
136 F.3d 249 (Second Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Rittweger
524 F.3d 171 (Second Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Lujan
530 F. Supp. 2d 1224 (D. New Mexico, 2008)
United States v. Holguin
946 F. Supp. 157 (D. Connecticut, 1996)
United States v. Perez
222 F. Supp. 2d 164 (D. Connecticut, 2002)
United States v. Calhelha
456 F. Supp. 2d 350 (D. Connecticut, 2006)
United States v. Ferguson
478 F. Supp. 2d 220 (D. Connecticut, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
650 F. Supp. 2d 160, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77702, 2009 WL 2710233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jacobs-ctd-2009.