Opinion
20-cr-623 (JSR)
09-16-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. WILLIE DENNIS, Defendant.
ORDER
JED S. RAKOFF, U.S.D.J.
On August 15, 2022, at the very first telephonic conference after this case was reassigned to the undersigned, the Court informed defendant pro se Willie Dennis, on the record and in no uncertain terms, that under the Court's longstanding Individual Rules of Practice, any application to the Court cannot be made in the form of unsolicited emails, letters, or the like, and, instead, must be raised by telephone calls to the Court made jointly by all parties. Conference of Aug. 15, 2022, Tr. 2:21-3:19; see also I.R. 1-2. Notwithstanding this instruction, Mr. Dennis recently submitted, via the pro se Clerk for the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, numerous applications set forth in two letters dated, respectively, September 9, 2022 and September 11, 2022, both of which were forwarded to the Court on September 15, 2022. In accordance with the Court's Individual Rules of Practice Nos. 1 and 2, these letters are considered a nullity and without legal or other effect. They will be totally disregarded.
The only exception here relevant, as Mr. Dennis was also informed, is a request for subpoenas, which under the law may be submitted ex parte. Conference of Aug. 18, 2022, Tr. 19:18-20:6. Mr. Dennis has made repeated, arguably excessive, use of this exception, and, while the Court subsequently approved for at least initial service each of the numerous and extensive subpoenas for testimony and documents submitted by Mr. Dennis, the Court eventually set a final deadline for submission of any further subpoenas, September 9, 2022 at 5:00 PM, which has now passed.
To the extent that the letters reiterate Mr. Dennis's renewed requests for approval of certain previously-submitted subpoenas, those subpoenas had already been approved by the Court before his letters were forwarded to the Court.
If Mr. Dennis wishes to make any application, he must convene a joint telephone conference, with himself, his standby counsel, Government counsel, and the Court, in accordance with the Court's Individual Rules of Practice. In order to allow for such conference to be recorded by a court reporter, he, his standby counsel, and the Government must agree in advance on a date and time at which to call the Court, so that the Court can arrange for a court reporter to record the call. For this purpose only, Mr. Dennis and Government counsel should call the Court's law clerk to inform the Court of the proposed time for the joint call.
SO ORDERED. .