Opinion
Case No. 10-265 GEB
01-24-2013
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. LORI ZOVAL Defendant
MARK J. REICHEL Attorney for Defendant
MARK J. REICHEL, State Bar #155034
REICHEL & PLESSER L.L.P.
455 CAPITOL MALL, 3rd FLOOR, Suite 350
Sacramento, California 95814
Telephone: (916) 498-9258
FAX: (916) 441-6553
mark@reichellaw.com
www.reichelplesser.com
Attorney for Defendant
LORI ZOVAL
DEFENSE MOTION FOR COURT
ORDER EXTENDING DATE FOR
SELF SURRENDER TO FEBRUARY
15, 2013: DECLARATION OF
COUNSEL; PROPOSED ORDER
DATE: January 24, 2013
Judge: Garland E. Burrell
Jr.
Defendant Lori Zoval was ordered to self surrender for service of her 44 month sentence by this court. On January 3, 2013 the Court ordered the self-surrender date be extended to 2:00 p.m. January 25, 2013 because of delays in designating a facility by the Board of Prison Terms (hereinafter BOP).
Ms. Zoval has not yet (as of January 23, 2013) been designated for a prison facility by the Bureau of Prisons, hereinafter "BOP." While the process normally takes several weeks for the BOP to designate a prison, in this case that process was unavoidably delayed through no fault of Ms. Zoval. The judgement and commitment order was not received by the BOP for several weeks after the sentencing date, as the court was not able to obtain the exact names and addresses of the restitution victims until the same was provided by the probation department on November 26, 2012.
Because the BOP received the judgement on November 26 2012, they have not yet finalized their work in designating a facility.
Attorney Mark Reichel spoke over the telephone on January 22nd and 23rd 2013 with Laura Davis, Criminal Records Specialist with the US Marshal's Service in Sacramento, at 916 930 2062. Ms. Davis advised that the BOP had been delayed by the impact of the holidays and was still attempting to find a facility for Ms. Zoval which could handle her medical needs, and as such, there had been a further delay in designating a facility. Ms. Davis advised that the process of designating a facility is very "backed up" at present. Ms. Davis previously told counsel that it would be a good idea to request more time from the court, and that it would be better for everybody involved if the self surrender date was extended. If Ms. Zoval has to turn herself in to the jail then the US Marshals Service will be responsible for her medical needs and the scarce jail space will be used not for a pretrial detainee, and the US Marshal's Services will be responsible for transporting Ms. Zoval from the jail to her eventual designated facility. (See Declaration of Mark J. Reichel).
Ms. Zoval has never been in a jail facility before, and this is her first criminal conviction. She was convicted of a white collar fraud crime, with the events occurring in 2006, over 6 years ago. She is the single mother of a 16 year old son. If she is not allowed to self surrender to a BOP facility, she will have to surrender and begin serving her sentence at the Sacramento County Jail. The Sacramento County Jail is set up and designed as a pre trial facility, not necessarily the type of facility to provide the benefits and corrective assistance for the service of a federal sentence which the BOP normally provides inmates serving a sentence.
Defense counsel has met and conferred with opposing counsel, and has requested that the United states agree to such an extension of time via email sent on January 23rd, 2013 to AUSA Skipper. Defense counsel has not yet heard back and therefore must file this and request placement on the Court's calendar as soon as possible, before January 25, 2013, at 2: 00 p.m., the current surrender date.
Respectfully submitted,
MARK J. REICHEL
Attorney for Defendant
DECLARATION OF MARK J. REICHEL
I, Mark J. Reichel, hereby Declare under the penalty of perjury that the foregoing si true and correct.
I am the attorney for defendant Lori Zoval. I have drafted the statements set forth in this Motion and know the contents thereof, and I know them to be true.
I was informed in late November via e mail from the United States Marshal's Service that because they had received the judgement from sentencing in this case so late, they had not started the designation process and would not be able to meet the turn in deadline for Ms. Zoval.
I know that the judgment was not finalized because the court did not have the names and addresses of the victims for the order on restitution from the probation department until November 26, 2012.
On December 31, 2012, I spoke over the telephone with Laura Davis, Criminal Records Specialist with the US Marshal's Service in Sacramento, at 916 930 2062. Ms. Davis advised that the BOP was attempting to find a facility for Ms. Zoval which could handle her medical needs, and as such, there had been a further delay in designating a facility. Ms. Davis advised that the process was very "backed up" and that it would be a good idea to make a request for additional time, and that it was in fact better for everyone if Ms. Zoval were allowed self surrender to the designated institution.
I spoke with Ms. Davis again on January 22nd and 23rd and confirmed that BOP is still running behind in designating an appropriate facility and the holidays had created delays in the process and that BOP was still waiting for an appropriate designation.
On January 23, 2013, I sent an email on the subject to opposing counsel in which I described my most recent conversations with Ms. Davis and the ongoing delay. I have not yet seen a reply as of the time of this writing.
ORDER
IT IS SO ORDERED. The date for the defendant's self surrender shall be extended to February 15, 2013. All remaining conditions of the defendant's release shall remain in full force and effect.
______________________
GARLAND E. BURRELL, JR.
Senior United States District
Judge