Free Response - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:04-cr-00103-REB

Document 737

Filed 05/05/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Criminal Action No 04-cr-00103-REB UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. 1. NORMAN SCHMIDT, 2. GEORGE ALAN WEED, 3. PETER A.W. MOSS, 4. CHARLES LEWIS, 6. MICHAEL SMITH, and 7. GEORGE BEROS, Defendants. _____________________________________________________________________ GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR WITNESS LIST _____________________________________________________________________ The Government, by Wyatt Angelo and Matthew T. Kirsch, the undersigned Assistant United States Attorneys, hereby objects to defendant Schmidt's oral request for a list of the government witnesses and asks the Court to deny the request based on the grounds set forth below: 1. The government's provision of discovery has been extensive. Defendants will have had approximately three years to review and analyze that discovery by the time of the trial. 2. Neither Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, nor the applicable law, see ¶ 2 of the Government's Motion to Correct/Amend the Third PreTrial Scheduling Order [Doc. # 727 ], imposes upon the government the

Case 1:04-cr-00103-REB

Document 737

Filed 05/05/2006

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obligation to provide a list of its witnesses in non-capital cases. 3. Pursuant to the Court's Second Trial Preparation Conference Order [Doc. # 720], the Court has already provided for the mutual submission of witness lists on March 2, 2007. 4. The defense counsels' various estimates of time needed to prepare for trial have been based on their representations that they intended to review all of the discovery provided by the government. Based on such as comprehensive review of the evidence, defense counsel should be in a position to themselves determine which witnesses have information which is incriminating or damaging to the defendants are therefore likely to be called by the government. Defendant Schmidt's request is ostensibly based on a desire to reduce the expenditure of government funds in preparation for this case, yet his counsel reject the government's proposal for a mutual exchange of witness lists four months in advance of trial, a proposal which would likely reduce the expenditure of government funds and other resources for both sides as opposed to just for the defense. The government has no obligation to take the requested step of revealing a portion of its trial strategy at this early date for the purpose of unilaterally reducing defense counsels' workload. 5. Based on the applicable law and absent the agreement of all parties to submit lists at an earlier date as proposed by the government, the Court's Second Trial Preparation Conference Order should govern and defendant Schmidt's oral request for an earlier production of the government's witness list should be denied. 2

Case 1:04-cr-00103-REB

Document 737

Filed 05/05/2006

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WHEREFORE, the government requests that defendant Schmidt's oral request for production of the government's witness list earlier than the date specified in the Second Trial Preparation Conference Order be denied. Respectfully submitted this 5th day of May, 2006. WILLIAM J. LEONE United States Attorney District of Colorado

s/ Matthew T. Kirsch WYATT ANGELO MATTHEW T. KIRSCH Assistant U.S. Attorneys 1225 17th Street, Suite 700 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: (303) 454-0100 Facsimile: (303) 454-0402 Email: [email protected]

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Case 1:04-cr-00103-REB

Document 737

Filed 05/05/2006

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE (CM/ECF) I hereby certify on this 5th day of May, 2006, I electronically filed the foregoing GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR WITNESS LIST with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following e-mail addresses:

Peter Bornstein, Esq. [email protected] Thomas Hammond, Esq. [email protected] Declan J. O'Donnell, Esq. [email protected] Ronald Gainor, Esq. [email protected]

Daniel T. Smith, Esq. [email protected] Thomas Goodreid, Esq. [email protected] Mitchell Baker, Esq. [email protected] Richard K. Kornfeld, Esq. [email protected]

s/ Matthew T. Kirsch WYATT ANGELO MATTHEW T. KIRSCH Assistant U.S. Attorneys 1225 17th Street, Suite 700 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: (303) 454-0100 Facsimile: (303) 454-0402 Email: [email protected]

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