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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document590 _ Filed 02/01/22 Page/7of9
The Honorable Alison J. Nathan
February 1, 2022
Page 7
2008, No. 08-M-208 (DRH), 2008 WL 5667021, at *4 (N.D.N.Y. Jul. 14, 2008) (declining to
unseal search warrant applications and affidavits because “[i]f such information is disclosed to the
subjects of investigations before the institution of charges, there exists a risk that those individuals
could conceal or destroy other evidence, influence information and testimony given by others, and
otherwise delay and obstruct the investigation.’’)
Judge Caproni’s decision in United States v. Silver offers a useful example. In Silver, the
government filed under seal a pretrial motion in /imine, which described the defendant’s extra-
marital affairs and sought permission to admit this evidence if the defendant put at issue his ethics
or integrity or his character for truthfulness and honesty, among other things. Si/ver, 2016 WL
1572993, at *1. Judge Caproni heard argument on the motion in a closed proceeding two weeks
before trial and ruled that the submissions on this issue would remain under seal until the
conclusion of the trial due to the concern that public disclosure of the defendant’s extramarital
affairs so close to trial would “increase the difficulty of picking a jury” and thereby impact the
defendant’s right to a fair trial. /d. at *2, *8. Following the defendant’s conviction, Judge
Caproni gave the parties the opportunity to brief whether the submissions should remain sealed.
Id. at *2. She ultimately ruled that the fair trial concerns that led her to temporarily seal the
submissions no longer existed and ordered them to be unsealed. /d. at *8.
The Court should follow the example of Judge Caproni in Si/ver. Here, to protect Ms.
Maxwell’s right to a fair trial, it is necessary to temporarily seal the Motion (and likely any
additional submissions on this issue) for a short period of time until the Court rules on the Motion
or until any additional fact-finding process ordered by the Court is complete. The Motion and
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00008858.jpg |
| File Size | 705.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 93.8% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,098 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 17:38:55.445428 |