Document 41352

Case#: 2020r00003080-PAEN Document#: 41352 Filed: 11/17/2021 Page#: 2 of 7 Page 2 The Government submits that this nomenclature can be used when trial begins on November 29, 2021, but that the parties should be directed to continue referencing victims and witnesses on the public record according to the nomenclature in the Superseding Indictment. The Government further requests that the defense be directed to redact the true names of the witnesses in this chart from all exhibits to filings, and to avoid using the true names of victims in filings with the Court. Using the true names of victims delays public filings and creates otherwise unnecessary redaction projects that waste the Government and the Court's time. Moreover, using victim names in filings increases the risk that victim identities may become public, due to redaction errors or other issues. II. Voir Dire Regarding voir dire, the Government proposes that prospective jurors be handed a sheet with a list of names and places that may come up at trial. That sheet, which would be filed under seal, would contain the true names of witnesses. The sheet would not be read aloud; instead, the DOJ-OGR-00006354 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case#: 2020-cr-000308-PAE Document#: 41352 Filed#: 11/17/2021 Page#: 4 of 57 Page 4 prejudice to the defendant, as the instruction makes clear to the jury that the identities of the witnesses are being protected from the public and press only, and that the true names of the witnesses are known to the Government, the Court, and the defendant. IV. Sealed and Redacted Exhibits The Government anticipates offering certain exhibits entirely under seal or with redactions to protect the personal identifying information of witnesses and third parties. With respect to logistics, the Government would propose submitting redacted versions of exhibits - along with an index noting which of the Government exhibits will be offered under seal - no later than November 29, 2021. To the extent the defense takes issue with the sealing requests or the proposed redactions, the Court may rule on those exhibits on case-by-case basis during the trial. The Government has considered how best to publish sealed exhibits to the jury while protecting the identities of witnesses and the privacy of third parties. On that score, the Government is mindful that exhibits published in electronic format on screens in the courtroom may be seen by the public, since the screens at counsel table - and potentially the jury box- are visible to the public from certain angles. For this reason, the Government requests permission to provide jurors with individual binders containing sealed exhibits. The Government expects that jurors will follow the Court's instruction to only view items in the binder when the Court instructs jurors to do so. DOJ-OGR-00006356 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case#: 2020-cr-00083-PAE Document#: 41352 Filed: 11/02/2021 Page#: 5 of 7 Page 5 Defense position: In light of the Court's ruling on the government's motion in limine, the defense will accept the government's proposed nomenclature for the witnesses referenced above. The defense has no objection to the procedures proposed by the government for voir dire and for sealing and redacting exhibits on the understanding that the defense will have the opportunity to object to particular sealing and redaction requests. The defense also proposes the following limiting instruction in place of the government's proposed instruction: This case has received, and will continue to receive, significant attention in the media. To minimize the inconvenience and potential harassment of any witness, the Court has permitted witnesses, if they choose, to be referred to by either their first name or a pseudonym. However, the full names of the witnesses are known to the Government, the defendant, and to the Court, and were shown to you during jury selection. This process should not bear in any way on your evaluation of the evidence in this case. Respectfully submitted, DAMIAN WILLIAMS United States Attorney By: s/ Maurene Comey Alison Moe Lara Pomerantz Andrew Rohrbach Assistant United States Attorneys Southern District of New York Cc: Defense Counsel (By email) DOJ-OGR-00006357