DOJ-OGR-00004009.jpg
Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 247 Filed 04/23/21 Page9of17
The Honorable Alison J. Nathan
April 5, 2021
Page 9 of 17
appears to be BSF, including all communications between the Government and BSF attorneys
David Boies, Sigrid McCawley, and Peter Skinner, and requesting immediate disclosure of Brady
and Giglio materials).
The Defendant cannot use Rule 17 to circumvent resolution of an outstanding discovery
dispute with the Government, especially when that dispute is currently pending before the Court.
If the Defendant is entitled to the communications with the Government she requests in Requests
1 and 2 pursuant to Rule 16, then presumably the Court will order the Government to produce
them and she may not use Rule 17 to obtain them from a nonparty instead. See, e.g., Nixon, 418
U.S. at 699 (documents requested pursuant to Rule 17(c) must not be “otherwise procurable” from
another source); United States v. Cole, No. 19 CR. 869 (ER), 2021 WL 912425, at *6 (S.D.N.Y.
Mar. 10, 2021) (explaining that “Rule 17(c) is not the proper method for obtaining” materials that
the Government has an obligation to disclose under the Jencks Act, Brady, and Giglio). If the
Defendant is not entitled to obtain the communications she seeks from the Government under Rule
16, then they are not discoverable under Rule 17 from a nonparty. See United States v. Boyle, No.
08 Cr. 523 (CM), 2009 WL 484436, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 24, 2009) (“Defendants may not seek
material under Rule 17 that they are prohibited from obtaining under Rule 16.”); United States v.
Barnes, No. S9 04 CR 186 SCR, 2008 WL 9359654, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 2, 2008) (“[I]f the item
is not discoverable under Rule 16, a party cannot make it discoverable simply by subpoenaing it
under Rule 17.”); United States v. Cherry, 876 F. Supp. 547, 552 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (“Courts must
be careful that Rule 17(c) is not turned into a broad discovery device, thereby undercutting the
strict limitation of discovery in criminal cases found in Fed. R. Crim. P. 16.”). Either way, if the
Government has the communications that the Defendant seeks and if she is legally entitled to them,
she must get them from the Government.
DOJ-OGR-00004009
Extracted Information
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00004009.jpg |
| File Size | 726.4 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.3% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,196 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:43:17.220651 |