Opinion
21 Cr. 502 (PMH)
09-24-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ROHARIL CRUZ, a/k/a “Roger, ” and MAX JOSE LAMARCHE, Defendants.
AUDREY STRAUSS United States Attorney Jennifer N. Ong Assistant United States Attorney Samuel Braverman, Esq. Counsel for Roharil Cruz Sean Maher, Esq. Counsel for Max Jose Lamarche
AUDREY STRAUSS United States Attorney
Jennifer N. Ong Assistant United States Attorney
Samuel Braverman, Esq. Counsel for Roharil Cruz
Sean Maher, Esq. Counsel for Max Jose Lamarche
PROTECTIVE ORDER
THE HONORABLE PHILIP M. HALPERN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Upon the application of the United States of America, with the consent of the undersigned counsel, and the defendants having requested discovery under Fed. R. Crim. P. 16, the Court hereby finds and orders as follows:
1. Disclosure Material.
The Government has made and will make disclosure to the defendant(s) of documents, objects and information, including electronically stored information (“ESI”), pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, 18 U.S.C. §3500, and the Government's general obligation to produce exculpatory and impeachment material in criminal cases, all of which will be referred to herein as “disclosure material.” The Government's disclosure material may include material that (i) affects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals; (ii) would impede, if prematurely disclosed, the Government's ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals; (iii) would risk prejudicial pretrial publicity if publicly disseminated; and (iv) that is not authorized to be disclosed to the public or disclosed beyond that which is necessary for the defense of this criminal case.
2. Sensitive Disclosure Material.
Certain of the Government's disclosure material, referred to herein as “sensitive disclosure material, ” contains information that identifies, or could lead to the identification of, witnesses who may be subject to intimidation or obstruction, and whose lives, persons, and property, as well as the lives, persons and property of loved ones, will be subject to risk of harm absent the protective considerations set forth herein. The Government's designation of material as sensitive disclosure material will be controlling absent contrary order of the Court.
3. Facilitation of Discovery.
The entry of a protective order in this case will permit the Government to produce expeditiously the disclosure material without further litigation and to disclose all disclosure material and sensitive disclosure material without significant delay occasioned by complete responsiveness review or comprehensive redactions. It will also afford the defense prompt access to those materials which will facilitate the preparation of the defense.
NOW, THEREFORE, FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
4. Disclosure material shall not be disclosed by the defendants or defense counsel, including any successor counsel (“the defense”) other than as set forth herein, and shall be used by the defense solely for purposes of defending this action. The defense shall not post any disclosure material on any Internet site or network site to which persons other than the parties hereto have access, and shall not disclose any disclosure material to the media or any third party except as set forth below.
5. Disclosure material that is not sensitive disclosure material may be disclosed by counsel to:
a. Personnel for whose conduct counsel is responsible, i.e., personnel employed by or retained by counsel, as needed for purposes of defending this action;
b. Prospective witnesses for purposes of defending this action.
6. Sensitive disclosure material shall be labeled “SENSITIVE” and may be disclosed only to personnel for whose conduct counsel is responsible, i.e., personnel employed by or retained by counsel, and the defendants, subject to the following limitations:
a. The defendants may review sensitive disclosure material only in the presence of counsel or any other person authorized to receive sensitive disclosure material, whether in-person or virtual;
b. The defendants may not copy or otherwise record sensitive disclosure material;
c. The defendants may not keep sensitive disclosure material or a copy of such material outside the presence of counsel, including in any prison facility.
7. The Government may authorize, in writing, disclosure of disclosure material beyond that otherwise permitted by this Order without further Order of this Court.
8. This Order does not prevent the disclosure of any disclosure material in any hearing or trial held in this action, or to any judge or magistrate judge, for purposes of this action. However, sensitive disclosure material pertinent to any motion before the Court should initially be filed under seal, absent consent of the Government or Order of the Court. All filings should comply with the privacy protection provisions of Fed. R. Crim. P. 49.1.
9. If there is a dispute between the parties concerning the Government's sensitive disclosure material designation of certain discovery materials, the parties shall meet and confer without prejudice to a subsequent application by defense counsel seeking de-designation of such materials by the Court. If the defense moves the Court for de-designation of disputed material, the Government shall respond within seven days of the defense filing, absent further order of the Court. The Government shall bear the burden of establishing good cause for its sensitive disclosure material designation of any disputed materials. Pending resolution by the Court, the parties shall comply with any sensitive disclosure material designation.
10. Except for disclosure material that has been made part of the record of this case, the defense shall return to the Government or securely destroy or delete all disclosure material, including the seized ESI disclosure material, within 30 days of the expiration of the period for direct appeal from any verdict in the above-captioned case; the period of direct appeal from any order dismissing any of the charges in the above-captioned case; or the granting of any motion made on behalf of the Government dismissing any charges in the above-captioned case, whichever date is later. If disclosure material is provided to any prospective witnesses, counsel shall make reasonable efforts to seek the return or destruction of such materials.
11. The defense shall provide a copy of this Order to prospective witnesses and persons retained by counsel to whom the defense has disclosed disclosure material or the Government's ESI production. All such persons shall be subject to the terms of this Order. Defense counsel shall maintain a record of what information has been disclosed to which such persons.
12. This Order places no restriction on a defendant's use or disclosure of ESI that originally belonged to the defendants.
Retention of Jurisdiction
12. The provisions of this order shall not terminate at the conclusion of this criminal prosecution and the Court will retain jurisdiction to enforce this Order following termination of the case.
SO ORDERED.