United States' Response To Defendant's Motion For Retention Of Agent's And Prosecutor's Rough Notes

The United States of America, through its undersigned attorney, hereby responds to Defendant's Motion for Retention of Agent's and Prosecutor's Rough Notes. In his motion, the defendant requests that the Court order the attorneys and investigative agent for the United States in this case to retain all rough notes of witness interviews in connection with the investigation and trial of this case. Def. Mot. at 1.

On June 6, 1997, the government advised defense counsel that the government attorneys have preserved all of their notes pertaining to this investigation and will continue to do so through the trial of the defendant. Additionally, the government attorneys have directed that the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who assisted with the investigation, to retain their notes pertaining to this investigation through the trial of the defendant. Therefore, defendant's Motion for an order is not needed and should be denied.

Moreover, while the government has complied with the defendant's request for the preservation of rough notes, the government asserts that this information is specifically exempted from disclosure pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(2), See also Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 511, 67 S.Ct. 385, 393 (1947); United States v. Pierce, 893 F.2d 669, 675 (5th Cir. 1990); United States v. Friedman, 593 F.2d 109, 120 (9th Cir. 1979), and do not otherwise constitute discovery materials subject to disclosure. See, e.g., United States v. Newman, 849 F.2d 156, 160 (5th Cir. 1988); United States v. Martin, 565 F.2d 362, 363 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Gates, 557 F.2d 1086, 1089 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1017 (1978).

Accordingly, because the government has represented its intention to preserve all of the notes pertaining to the investigation, and because the defendant's request encompasses information not subject to disclosure, the motion should be denied as moot.

Upon consideration of the United States' Response to Defendant's Motion for Retention of Agent's and Prosecutor's Rough Notes,

The Defendant's Motion is hereby DENIED as moot.

DONE AND ENTERED THIS ______ day of __________________, 1997.

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the United States' Response to Defendant's Motion for Rentention of Agent's and Prosecutor's Rough Notes and proposed Order was sent via Federal Express this ______ day of June 1997, to: