Free Motion for Reciprocal Discovery - District Court of California - California

Case 3:08-cr-02254-BTM

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KAREN P. HEWITT United States Attorney DAVID D. LESHNER Assistant U.S. Attorney California State Bar No. 207815 Federal Office Building 880 Front Street, Room 6293 San Diego, California 92101-8893 Telephone: (619) 557-7163 [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. BRIAN KEITH HIGGS, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Criminal Case No. 08-CR-2254-BTM DATE: TIME: August 15, 2008 1:30 p.m.

UNITED STATES' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR RECIPROCAL DISCOVERY

COMES NOW the plaintiff, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, by and through its counsel, Karen P. Hewitt, United States Attorney, and David D. Leshner, Assistant United States Attorney, and hereby files its motion for reciprocal discovery. Said motion is based upon the files and records of this case together with the attached memorandum of points and authorities. /// /// /// /// /// /// ///

Case 3:08-cr-02254-BTM

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MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES I STATEMENT OF THE CASE On July 8, 2008, defendant Brian Keith Higgs was arraigned on a 20-count Indictment charging him with bringing in illegal aliens for financial gain, bringing in illegal aliens without presentation and aiding and abetting, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii), 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Defendant entered a plea of not guilty. II STATEMENT OF FACTS Defendant's Apprehension On June 22, 2008, Defendant attempted to enter the United States from Mexico through the San Ysidro, CA Port of Entry as the driver and sole visible occupant of a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Defendant informed the Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") officer at primary inspection that he had purchased the vehicle a couple of days ago. Records checks revealed the vehicle had been reported stolen. At secondary inspection, a Human Narcotic Detector Dog alerted the rear of the truck bed. CBP officers discovered a non-factory compartment underneath the truck bed. Two individuals were concealed inside the non-factory compartment. Both individuals admitted to being Mexican citizens with no documents allowing them to enter or remain in the United States. B. Defendant's Post-Arrest Statement Defendant received Miranda warnings and agreed to make a statement. Defendant admitted knowledge of the two undocumented aliens concealed in the rear of the pickup truck. According to Defendant, he was not being paid to smuggle the individuals concealed in the truck. Rather, Defendant stated he was smuggling aliens in order that "La Familia" would stop harassing him. His instructions were to drop off the truck in Chula Vista, CA. Defendant admitted to smuggling aliens on two prior occasions. CBP records show defendant was apprehended on August 25, 2007 and December 26, 2006 attempting to enter the United States with undocumented aliens concealed in his car. On each of those two prior occasions, Defendant admitted 2

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to being paid to smuggle aliens into the United States. C. Material Witness' Statement The material witness, Adelina Martinez-Morales, stated that she is a Mexican citizen with no documents allowing her to enter or remain in the United States. She informed CBP officers that she was paying 500 Mexican pesos to be smuggled into the United States to be with her husband. III MOTION FOR RECIPROCAL DISCOVERY The Government has and will continue to fully comply with its discovery obligations. To date, the Government has provided Defendant with 116 pages of discovery, including the report of his arrest, his rap sheet and a DVD of his post-arrest statements and the material witness' statement. The Government moves the Court to order Defendant to provide all reciprocal discovery to which the Government is entitled under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 16(b) and 26.2. Specifically, Rule 16(b)(1) requires Defendant to disclose to the Government all exhibits, documents and reports of testing or examination which he intends to use in his case-in-chief at trial and a written summary of the names, anticipated testimony, and bases for opinions of experts he intends to call at trial under Rules 702, 703, and 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. IV CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the Government respectfully requests that the Court grant its motion.

DATED: July 28, 2008.

Respectfully submitted, Karen P. Hewitt United States Attorney s/ David D. Leshner DAVID D. LESHNER Assistant U.S. Attorney

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 08-CR-2254-BTM

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED THAT: 9 I, DAVID D. LESHNER, am a citizen of the United States and am at least eighteen years of age. 10 My business address is 880 Front Street, Room 6293, San Diego, California 92101-8893. 11 I am not a party to the above-entitled action. I have caused service of UNITED STATES' 12 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR RECIPROCAL DISCOVERY on the following 13 parties by electronically filing the foregoing with the Clerk of the District Court using its ECF System, 14 which electronically notifies them. 15 Gregory Murphy, Esq. 16 17 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 18 Executed on July 28, 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 4 /s/ David D. Leshner DAVID D. LESHNER

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