Opinion
4:21 CR 066-MPM-JMV
07-22-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MELVIN HILSON
This order includes revisions made by the Court but approved by the parties.
JANE M. VIRDEN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED, and that pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d)(1), the following shall control the handling of the discovery material in the above-captioned case.
The discovery in this case includes the medical records of the victim, personnel files of the defendant and corrections-officer witnesses, and criminal history records of potential witnesses, among other materials. The personnel files include medical information, social security numbers, employment applications, salary and payroll information, internal investigation documents, and disciplinary records. The discovery also includes other materials that contain personally identifying information such as birthdates, addresses, social security numbers, and telephone numbers.
Because these documents contain personal and sensitive information, and because redaction of this information would render many of these documents less useful to the defense, the defendant, defendant's counsel, and counsel for the Government agree to the following restrictions on the use and disclosure of the materials:
1. Defense counsel shall share discovery only with counsel's support staff and investigators or experts working with counsel (hereafter “the defense team”) to provide a defense in this case, including any direct appeal;
2. Defense counsel shall not provide copies of discovery to any potential witness, except for that witness's own statements or records;
3. Prior to sharing discovery with any member of the defense team, Defense counsel shall notify him or her of this protective order;
4. Any party who seeks to file any portion of the discovery in this case as an exhibit to a pleading shall move to file it under seal in accord with Uniform Local Criminal Rule 49.1 and Uniform Local Civil Rule 79 or redact the personally identifiable information contained within it;
5. Defense counsel shall return all copies of the discovery to the Government upon termination of this case and any direct appeal or other proceeding relating to the criminal action.
ORDERS that this protective order will survive the final termination of this case, including the direct appeal. The court reserves the right to amend this order sua sponte.