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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 267 _ Filed 05/03/21 Page5of7
The Hon. Alison J. Nathan
May 3, 2021
Page 5
assistance when it interferes in certain ways with the ability of counsel to make independent
decisions about how to conduct the defense.”’).
If the court were to act outside its statutory authority and compel defense counsel to
disclose defense material prematurely, then Ms. Maxwell’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights
would be endangered. While the aims of judicial economy and efficiency may be served by
ordering the defense to disclose prospective witnesses, such policy goals, however laudable,
cannot trump fundamental liberties. “In the administration of criminal justice, courts must
carefully guard against dilution of the principle that guilt is to be established by probative
evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt.” Estelle, 425 U.S. at 503.
II. Procedural Rules Aside, the Government Must Timely Disclose Any Brady and
Giglio Material.
Brady and its progeny impose upon the government broad duties of disclosure. See Brady
v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963) (“the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable
to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or
to punishment”); United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682 (1985) (defining materiality);
Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82 (1999) (same); Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150,
154 (1972) (government has duty to disclose material affecting reliability of government
witnesses).
The court’s authority, or lack thereof, to order disclosures under Rules 16 and 26.2 does
not affect the defendant’s right to Brady material. “It is, of course, a fundamental axiom of
American law, rooted in our history as a people and requiring no citations to authority, that the
requirements of the Constitution prevail over a statute in the event of a conflict.” Coppa, 267
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| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00004088.jpg |
| File Size | 681.7 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.7% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,926 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:44:05.060559 |