Opinion
Criminal Case No. 06-cr-00469-WDM.
March 14, 2007
ORDER
THIS MATTER coming before the Court on the Government's Motion for Protective Order, and the Court having considered the motion, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:
The BOP has produced to the United States Attorney's Office records, documents, and materials (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Records") that fall into the following categories: i) manuals and logs that describe security and control procedures at BOP; ii) documents that contain confidential information about the two guards who were victims in this case; and iii) documents and logs that contain identifying and confidential information about other inmates who may be called as witnesses. The production of these Records poses a potential threat to institution security and inmate safety and some of these Records contain private or privileged information.
The government has provided defense counsel with a copy of the Records designated by Bates numbers 000003-5, 000015-17, 000019, 000028-36, 000038, 000047-53, 000060-82, and 000086-90. Defense counsel shall keep the Records and any notes or other materials prepared based upon or referring to information in the Records in strict confidence. Defense counsel shall use them exclusively in connection with this case (including trial preparation, trial, and appeals or other related legal proceedings) and for no other purpose.
1. The Records may be viewed only by defense counsel and such members of her staff as are necessary for the purposes outlined above and, as it pertains to staff, only while necessary staff are operating under the direct supervision and control of defense counsel. Defense counsel shall ensure that all persons in her office, who are to handle such information, read this Order and are informed of their responsibility to safeguard this information. 2. Defense counsel shall make only such copies as are necessary to prepare a defense of this criminal case. Defense counsel shall keep a written record concerning how many copies were made, to whom those copies were delivered and the dates of delivery. Defense counsel shall also deliver a copy of this order with the materials. No person other than defense counsel shall make any copy of these materials for any purpose whatsoever 3. Defendant shall not under any circumstances be permitted to view any of the Records without petition to and further order of the Court. 4. A copy of this Order shall be kept with the Records at all times. 5. To the extent that the Privacy Act may be asserted as a basis for withholding certain documents or portions of documents requested by defendant, the United States Department of Justice and its agents or representatives are authorized to produce the requested documents because the information contained therein is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action or appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, and the defendant's need for disclosure of such records outweighs the Privacy Act's concerns against disclosure so long as these appropriate protective measures are taken. 6. At the conclusion of the case in this court, by entry of the Court's judgment, counsel within ten days shall collect all such copies and return them to the Government.