Opinion
21-CR-603 (VEC)
05-09-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. TERRENCE WILLIAMS, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge.
WHEREAS on May 9, 2022, the Court arraigned Defendants Anthony Wroten, Charles Watson, Jr., Ruben Patterson, Jamario Moon, Sebastian Telfair, Milton Palacio, Christopher Douglas-Roberts, Alan Anderson, Anthony Allen, Desiree Allen, Ronald Glen Davis, William Bynum, Eddie Robinson, Darius Miles, and Shannon Brown on the superseding indictment (S3); and
WHEREAS the Defendants all entered pleas of not guilty.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the status conference, currently scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 10:00 A.M., is adjourned to Thursday, July 7, 2022 at 11:00 A.M. The conference will be held remotely, via teleconference. While the Government and Defense counsel must attend the teleconference, the Defendants are not required to attend. By no later than Friday, July 1, 2022, any Defendant who wishes not to attend the conference must file a waiver of in person appearance and a consent to appear via counsel. Any Defendant who plans to attend the teleconference need only file a waiver of in person appearance. If any Defendant would like to appear in person, the Court will schedule an in person conference for that Defendant.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Government, Defense counsel, any Defendants who choose to attend, and any interested members of the public must attend the July 7, 2022 conference by dialing 1-888-363-4749, using the access code 3121171, and the security code 0603. All attendees are advised to mute their phones when not speaking and to self-identify each time they speak. Recording or rebroadcasting the proceeding is strictly prohibited by law.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that at the conference, the Court will enter a pre-trial motions briefing schedule and schedule the trials. The Court plans to try the Defendants in groups of four or five, with one trial scheduled for each month beginning in December 2022. To that end, the parties are ordered to meet and confer on proposed trial groupings. If the parties can agree on proposed groupings, the Government must file a letter listing the proposed groupings by no later than Friday, June 3, 2022. If the parties cannot agree, the Government's proposed groupings are due no later than Friday, June 3, 2022. The Defendants' joint response, with proposed counter-groupings, is due no later than Friday, June 10, 2022.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that time is excluded until Thursday, July 7, 2022, under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A), as the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the Defendants in a speedy trial given the complexity of this case, the logistical difficulties of trial preparation caused by COVID-19, the large number of Defendants in this action, and the voluminous discovery.
SO ORDERED.