Opinion
2:19-cr-00107-KJM
10-25-2021
United States of America, Plaintiffs, v. Ronald Yandell, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
“There is a ‘well established' principle that ‘[d]istrict courts have inherent power to control their dockets.'” United States v. W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d 499, 509 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc) (alteration in original) (quoting Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. Hercules Inc., 146 F.3d 1071, 1074 (9th Cir. 1998)).
In exercising that inherent power, district courts have often imposed deadlines on the filing of superseding indictments in criminal cases. See, e.g., United States v. Numisgroup Int'l Corp., 128 F.Supp.2d 136, 146-47 (E.D.N.Y. 2000); United States v. Douglas, No. 16-20436, 2019 WL 1315731, at *2 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 22, 2019); United States v. Cutting, No. 14-00139, 2017 WL 66837, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 6, 2017); but see United States v. Ingram, No. 15-0078, 2016 WL 2986261, at *1 (E.D. Ky. May 20, 2016) (citing United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464 (1996)).
In this case, given the nature of the pending charges, the court has understood from the inception of the case that the government may seek to file charges exposing up to five defendants to the death penalty. Congress has provided that the government must give notice of its intent to seek the death penalty within “a reasonable time before the trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3593(a). District courts have authority to set deadlines by which the government must provide this notice. See United States v. Williams, 318 Fed.Appx. 571, 572-73 (9th Cir. 2009) (unpublished); United States v. Schlesinger, No. 18-02719, 2019 WL 11853370, at *1-2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 12, 2019); United States v. McGill, No. 09-2856, 2010 WL 1571200, at *2-5 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 16, 2010).
In addition, to appropriately manage litigation costs in capital cases, the federal Judicial Conference guidelines for the Criminal Justice Act recommend courts “establish a schedule for resolution of whether the government will seek the death penalty” allowing “reasonable time for counsel for the parties to discharge their respective duties.” Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 7, Pt. A, Ch. 6, § 670 (last substantive revision May 21, 2019).
The parties are thus ordered to show cause, within 14 days, why the court should not set a deadline of April 22, 2022 for the government to file any superseding indictment and a deadline of September 23, 2022 for the government to give any notice required by 18 U.S.C. § 3593(a).
IT IS SO ORDERED.