ORDER GRANTING GOVERNMENT'S MOTION TO EXCLUDE TIME UNDER SPEEDY TRIAL ACT

Re: Dkt. No. 42

KANDIS A. WESTMORE, Magistrate Judge.

On December 23, 2014, the United States filed a Motion to Exclude Time Under the Speedy Trial Act from December 19, 20141 to January 21, 2015.2 (Mot., Dkt. No. 42.) Defendant Alvin Florida, Jr. filed an opposition to the motion on December 29, 2014.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the Motion is GRANTED. The Speedy Trial Act "provides that a court shall exclude a reasonable period of delay `when the defendant is joined for trial with a codefendant as to whom the time for trial has not run and no motion for severance has been granted.' United States v. Butz, 982 F.2d 1378, 1381 (9th Cir. 1993) (quoting 18 U.S.C. §3161(h)(7)). "Every circuit to consider this section has concluded that `an exclusion to one defendant applies to all co-defendants.'" Id. (citations omitted).

Time was excluded for the four co-defendants in this case from December 17, 2014 to March 18, 2015. In her order excluding time, Judge Hamilton specifically found that time was excludable for complexity and effective preparation of counsel. (Dkt. No. 39.) With respect to Mr. Florida, Judge Hamilton excluded time until new counsel was appointed on December 19, 2014. Id. When new counsel was appointed on December 19, 2014, this court set Mr. Florida's next court date before Judge Hamilton for January 21, 2015, which was her first available date. Given that time has been excluded for the co-defendants in this case until March 18, 2015, and no motion for severance has been granted, time will likely be excluded until then for Mr. Florida as well, when he appears before Judge Hamilton on January 21.

Mr. Florida argues that the government's request to exclude time until January 21 is not reasonable because the government has not yet produced discovery, almost a month since he was arraigned on the indictment. (Def.'s Opp'n, Dkt. No. 46 at 3.) The court disagrees. As with all of the co-defendants in this case, the parties negotiated a stipulated protective order regarding the dissemination of discovery materials. Indeed, since Mr. Florida's last appearance, the parties negotiated and finalized the protective order for Mr. Florida with his new counsel and filed it on December 24, 2014. (Dkt. No. 44.) In the stipulation, Defendant agreed that the documents provided as discovery in this case to defense counsel are subject to a Protective Order. Id. The parties' needed to negotiate and finalize a protective order with Mr. Florida's new counsel following her appointment on December 19 so that the government could begin to produce discovery in this case is a reasonable basis for excluding time until his next appearance before Judge Hamilton. Mr. Florida fails to take any of that into consideration in his opposition to the motion.

The parties agree that the indictment in this case was the result of a four-year-long investigation against Mr. Florida and his co-defendants. Further, Judge Hamilton has already found that this case is complex because there are five co-defendants charged in a nine-count indictment, and there are hundreds of thousands of electronic and hard-copy documents and over a thousand hours of audio and video surveillance that will be produced in discovery. Additionally, the alleged conspiracy and scheme involved hundreds of bid-rigged properties and took place over three years. Her findings apply equally to all of the co-defendants joined for trial in this case. Given the complexity of the case, it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself within the time limits established by the Act. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(ii).

For those same reasons, and given Defense counsel's need to receive and review discovery to be produced pursuant to the protective order, time is properly excluded until January 21, 2015 for effective preparation of counsel. 18 U.S.C. §3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).

Moreover, as discussed more fully above, time excluded for Mr. Florida's co-defendants is also excluded for him. Butz, 982 F.2d at 1381. Therefore, the Motion to exclude time between December 19, 2014 and January 21, 2015 under the Speedy Trial Act is GRANTED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.