Opinion
17 Cr. 419 (KMK)
11-09-2021
United States of America v. Leibys Mercedes, Defendants.
DAMIAN WILLIAMS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY BY SAMUEL L. RAYMOND ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DANIEL HOCHHEISER COUNSEL FOR LEIBYS MERCEDES
DAMIAN WILLIAMS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY BY SAMUEL L. RAYMOND ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
DANIEL HOCHHEISER COUNSEL FOR LEIBYS MERCEDES
PROTECTIVE ORDER
HONORABLE KENNETH M. KARAS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Upon the application of the United States of America, with the consent of the undersigned counsel, the Court hereby finds and orders as follows:
1. Disclosure Material. The Government has made disclosure to the defendant 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 includes material that (i) affects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals; (ii) would risk prejudicial pretrial publicity if publicly disseminated; and (iii) 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.
NOW, THEREFORE, FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1. Disclosure material shall not be disclosed by the defendant 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.
2. Disclosure material that is not sensitive disclosure material may be disclosed by counsel to:
(a) The defendant;
(b) Personnel for whose conduct counsel is responsible, i.e., personnel employed by or retained by counsel, as needed for purposes of defending this action;
(c) Prospective witnesses for purposes of prosecuting this action.
3. Sensitive disclosure material shall be disclosed only as follows:
(a) to the undersigned defense counsel.
4. The Government may authorize, in writing, disclosure of disclosure material beyond that otherwise permitted by this Order without further Order of this Court.
5. 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.
6. This Order places no restriction on a defendant's use or disclosure of ESI that originally belonged to the defendant.
Retention of Jurisdiction
7. 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.