Document EFTA 02836255¶
U.S. Department of Justice¶
United States Attorney Southern District of New York¶
The Silvio J. Ala, Building One Saint Andrew’s Plaza New York New York 10007¶
December 17, 2021¶
BY ECF¶
The Honorable Alison J. Nathan United States District Court Southern District of New York United States Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, New York 10007¶
Re: United States v. Ghislahte Maxwell, S2 20 Cr. 330 (AJN)¶
Dear Judge Nathan:¶
The Government files this letter in advance of the expected testimony of law enforcement agents. From conferring, the Government understands that the defense intends to ask questions of at least one law enforcement witness beyond those questions that elicit prior inconsistent statements (to which the Government has generally offered to stipulate, insofar as they are admitted).¶
In advance of the agents’ testimony, the Government writes regarding the boundaries of the Court’s prior rulings on the scope of questions put to law enforcement witnesses. Specifically, and pursuant to the Court’s rulings at the November 1, 2021 conference (attached as Exhibit A), the Government will object to any questions about “the failure to utilize some particular technique” (11/01/21 Tr. at 16 (citing United States v. Saldarriaga, 204 F.3d 50 (2d Cir. 2000))), that the government “had an improper motive” (id. (citing United States v. Regan, 103 F.3d 1072 (2d Cir. 1997))), “affirmative evidence by the defense that goes to the thoroughness of the investigation” (id. at 17), “[t]he length of the investigation, the investigative techniques used, and the fact that the defendant was not initially a target of the investigation” (id. at 19 (quoting United States v. Duncan, No. 18 Cr. 289, 2019 WL 2210663 (S.D.N.Y. 2019)), and questions about “who [the case agents] talked to, what documents they subpoenaed, and when,” (id. at 20), among other lines of questioning.¶
Without knowing details of the defense’s anticipated direct examination of the law enforcement witnesses, however, the Government does not seek relief at this time.¶
Respectfully submitted,¶
DAMIAN United States Attorney¶
By: s/ Maurene Comey Alison Moe Lam Pomerantz Andrew Rohrbach Assistant United States Attorneys Southern District of New York¶
Cc: Defense Counsel (by ECF)¶