Filed: May 31, 2013
Latest Update: May 31, 2013
Summary: ORDER APPOINTING RUSSELL M. AOKI AS COORDINATING DISCOVERY ATTORNEY GEORGE FOLEY, Jr., Magistrate Judge. Russell M. Aoki is appointed as Coordinating Discovery Attorney for the defendants. His duties are defined within this Order with the basis for his appointment. Nine defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Conduct or Participate in an Enterprise Engaged in a Pattern of Racketeering Activity; Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud; and Conspiracy to Use a Facility of Interstate Co
Summary: ORDER APPOINTING RUSSELL M. AOKI AS COORDINATING DISCOVERY ATTORNEY GEORGE FOLEY, Jr., Magistrate Judge. Russell M. Aoki is appointed as Coordinating Discovery Attorney for the defendants. His duties are defined within this Order with the basis for his appointment. Nine defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Conduct or Participate in an Enterprise Engaged in a Pattern of Racketeering Activity; Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud; and Conspiracy to Use a Facility of Interstate Com..
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ORDER APPOINTING RUSSELL M. AOKI AS COORDINATING DISCOVERY ATTORNEY
GEORGE FOLEY, Jr., Magistrate Judge.
Russell M. Aoki is appointed as Coordinating Discovery Attorney for the defendants. His duties are defined within this Order with the basis for his appointment.
Nine defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Conduct or Participate in an Enterprise Engaged in a Pattern of Racketeering Activity; Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud; and Conspiracy to Use a Facility of Interstate Commerce to Facilitate Unlawful Activity. The Government alleges CLS Transportation is a limousine service in Las Vegas, Nevada that conducted and otherwise facilitated a broad range of criminal activities. The indictment specifically sets out:
While all CLS Transportation was licensed to, and did, provide limousine services in Clark County, Nevada, the defendants used that limousine service business to conduct and promote criminal activities. Members and associates of the enterprise used CLS Transportation to sell and distribute controlled substances and facilitate illegal prostitution.
Indictment, Docket #1.
The Government has identified a large volume of discovery that includes over 26,000 scanned documents and thousands of intercepted wire communications. Discovery includes investigative reports, lab reports, as well as bank records and credit card documents. The wiretap documents include wiretap applications, affidavits and orders, as well as for wire taps on five different telephones. It likely also includes the associated linesheets memorializing each intercepted call.
The number of defendants and volume of discovery are so large a risk of costly duplicative efforts could otherwise be eliminated, reduced, or contained upon the appointment of a Coordinating Discovery Attorney. Further, there may be unusual organizational or technical issues involved with the production, review and distribution of the discovery that could interfere with defense counsel s ability to02c7 address the legal and factual issues.
The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall oversee any discovery issues that are common to all of the defendants. The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall address discovery issues to avoid potential duplicative costs that would be incurred if defense counsel employed support services or staff to organize the discovery. The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall assess the most effective and costefficient manner in which to organize the discovery, utilizing methods such as a discovery index or database that will benefit all defendants. The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall seek input from defense counsel on general discovery issues.
Discovery issues specific to any particular defendant shall be addressed by defense counsel directly with the Government and not through the Coordinating Discovery Attorney.
Within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order, the Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall meet and confer with the Government to discuss the production of discovery in accordance with the Recommendations for Electronically Stored Information (ESI) Discovery Production in Federal Criminal Cases, co-authored by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Administrative Office (AO) of the U.S. Courts 02c7 Joint Working Group on Electronic Technology in the Criminal Justice System (JETWG). http://www.fd.org/docs/litigation-support/final-esi-protocol.pdf. See Principles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the Government shall provide discovery to the Coordinating Discovery Attorney for distribution to defense counsel to avoid delay in distribution. The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall duplicate and distribute the discovery to all defense counsel. The Government shall work with the Coordinating Discovery Attorney to provide discovery in a timely manner.
The Government shall maintain a record of the discovery transmitted to Mr. Aoki in accordance with Principle 7 of the Recommendations for ESI Discovery Production.
The Government shall not receive a copy of or gain access to Mr. Aoki š work product.
Defense counsel may still require support services depending on the particular needs of their case, but prior to petitioning for any support staff funds, defense counsel must confer with the Coordinating Discovery Attorney to determine whether such services are already being addressed or could be addressed in whole or in part.
The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall petition this Court, ex parte, for funds for staffing or outside services and shall monitor all vendor invoices. All petitions shall include a basis for the requested funds and a determination that the costs of the services are reasonable. The Coordinating Discovery Attorney shall also review all vendor invoices to ensure that invoiced costs are for work previously agreed to be performed.
DONE AND ORDERED.
