Free Response to Motion - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

A E Case 1 :06-cr—00050-GIVIS Document 220 Filed 01/28/2008 Page 1 of 3 `
I IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ·
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
¤ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : .
— Plaintiff, _
v. Criminal Action No. 06-50-01-GMS U
WILLIE BROWN,
Defendant. . E
GOVERNMENTS RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE
l NOW COMES the United States by and through Colm F. Connolly, United States _ i
a Attorney for the District of Delaware, and Douglas E. McCann, Assistant United States Attorney
for the District of Delaware, and hereby responds to defendant Willie Brown's Motion for a `
P Continuance. e
1. The defendant has been in custody since April 26, 2006, and was indicted on May
` 2, 2006.
2. On December l, 2006, the Court set trial for April 9, 2007.
n n 3. On March 20, 2007, the defendant, through Eliot Cohen, Esquire, moved for a
continuance ofthe trial date. The Court granted the Motion and set a new trial
I date of May 14, 2007.
4. On April 23, 2007, the Court continued the trial date until June 18, 2007.
’ I 5. On May 23, 2007, after the defendant moved to have a new attorney appointed,
_ - Eliot Cohen, Esquire, withdrew his appearance.
· 6. On May 29, 2007, I an van Amerongen, Esquire was appointed as the defendants _
—~ new counsel. The June 18, 2007, trial date was continued.
7. On September 6, 2007, after consulting with counsel, the Court set a new trial U
I date for December 3, 2007. A

Case 1:06-cr-00050-GIVIS Document 220 Filed 01/28/2008 Page 2 ot 3
I I 8. On November 15, 2007, after the defendant moved to have a new attorney
appointed, Jan van Amerongen, Esquire withdrew his appearance. .
9. On November 15, 2007, Thomas Dreyer, Esquire, was appointed to represent the
defendant. After consulting with counsel, the Court set the current trial date of
. February 19, 2008. The Court entered an order memorializing that decision on A
December 17, 2007.
10. The government and current defense counsel have established a cordial and
. professional working relationship on this case and have been in frequent contact. {
The govermnent recognizes that there is (relative to typical drug cases) a large
n amount of discovery in this case._ In addition, the government does not doubt that
` Mr. Dreyer has worked diligently on the case. The government also recognizes
that Mr. Dreyer is not responsible for the delays that took place on another U
attorney’s watch.
ll. However, the government is concerned that the defendant has been pending trial
I nearly two years. Criminal cases do not normally get better with time, and this
case isno different. The government believes that a further lengthy delay may
prejudice its ability to present its evidence, by the mere passage of time alone.
. 'l2. ln addition, as the Court knows, Mark Tatman, Marty Eaton, Craig Durham and
Brittney Robinson have all been detained lengthy periods of time without being
e sentenced. Ashley Harrison, although released on conditions, is also pending
sentencing.
13. While there is a large amount of discovery in the case, the evidence is not
particularly complex. The gravamen of the case is that the defendant distributed,
either directly or through others, more than fifty (50) grams of cocaine base on
four separate occasions. An undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent I
participated in each deal. The govemrnent expects that the evidence will show

Case 1:06-cr-00050-GIVIS Document 220 Filed O1/28/2008 Page 3 ot 3
that the defendant personally distributed the drugs in the first deal, and fuither
- expects that the defendants co—conspirators will testify that he directed them to
deliver the drugs in two other deals.
14. Counsel for the government has a trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
beginning March 31, 2008, in the matter of United States v. Andrew Yao. If the
Court determines to continue the trial to allow the defense more time to prepare,
the government respectfully requests that the Court schedule this trial in the third
I or fouith week of April, if that is convenient to the Court, defense counsel and the I
witnesses, or as soon as possible thereafter.
15. The government respectfully requests that the Court conduct a scheduling I
conference to discuss the further scheduling of this case.
Respectfully submitted, A
COLM F. CONNOLLY l
‘ United States Attorney ‘
By: Md EI
_ ougl E. McCann .
Assist t United States Attorney _
-· Dated: January 28, 2008 L