U.S. v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 19 December 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 00-3034-MWB.,No. CR 01-3046-MWB.,CR 00-3034-MWB.,CR 01-3046-MWB. |
| Citation | 236 F.Supp.2d 943 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Angela JOHNSON, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
Alfred E. Willett, Terpstra, Epping & Willett, Cedar Rapids, IA, Dean A. Stowers, Rosenberg, Stowers & Morse, Des Moines, IA, Thomas P. Frerichs, Frerichs Law Office PC, Waterloo, IA, Patrick J. Berrigan, Watson & Dameron, LLP, Kansas City, MO, Philip A. MacTaggart, Federal Public Defender, Davenport, IA, Robert R. Rigg, Des Moines, IA, for defendant.
Patrick J. Reinert, Charles J. Williams, U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, IA, for U.S.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. BACKGROUND ....................................................... 944
II. LEGAL ANALYSIS .................................................... 945
A. The Motion And Ruling .......................................... 945
1. The parties' arguments ...................................... 945
2. The magistrate judge's ruling ............................... 946
3. The motion to reconsider and the ruling ..................... 947
B. The Parties' Arguments On Appeal ............................... 947
C. The Standard Of Review ......................................... 948
D. Application Of The Standard .................................... 948
1. Is the Stipulation ambiguous? ............................... 949
2. Does the Stipulation apply to the documents in question? .... 951
a. Series "E" documents ..................................... 951
b. Series "J" documents ..................................... 952
c. Series "K" documents ..................................... 952
III. CONCLUSION ......................................................... 953
A grand jury brought two separate indictments against defendant Angela Johnson involving the alleged murder of witnesses. The grand jury handed down the first seven-count indictment on July 26, 2000, and the second ten-count indictment on August 30, 2001. On August 23, 2002, the government filed superseding indictments in both cases against Johnson. The superseding indictment in Case No. CR 00-3034-MWB charges Johnson with five counts of aiding and abetting the murder of witnesses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(a)(1)(A) and (C), 1512(a)(2)(A) or 1513(a)(1)(A) and (C), 1111, and 2; one count of aiding and abetting the solicitation of the murder of witnesses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 373(a)(1) and 2; and one count of conspiracy to interfere with witnesses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The August 23, 2002, superseding indictment in Case No. CR 01-3046-MWB charges Johnson with five counts of killing witnesses while engaging in a drug-trafficking conspiracy ("conspiracy murder"), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and five counts of killing the same witnesses in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise ("CCE murder"), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The five murder victims identified in the second indictment are the same five murder victims identified in Counts 1 through 5 of the first indictment. Trial on both indictments is currently scheduled to begin on March 10, 2003, although the defendant's December 11, 2002, motion for a continuance of the trial is also pending before the court.
The matter now before the court is Johnson's June 7, 2002, appeal in each case (docket nos. 313 and 65, respectively) of a May 30, 2002, ruling of a magistrate judge (docket nos. 310 and 63, respectively) denying in part and granting in part Johnson's April 24, 2002, motion to compel (docket nos. 279 and 44, respectively). Johnson's motion to compel involves copying of documents identified by the parties as Bates-stamped documents in Series "E" (Johnson's jail records and intercepted correspondence), Series "J" (Dustin Honken's intercepted correspondence and Woodbury County Jail records), and Series "K" (files identified as McNeese Jencks Act materials).
In her motion to compel, Johnson asserted that the government had failed to produce copies of the three kinds of documents at issue, even though she was entitled to them under a certain provision of an Amendment to Stipulated Discovery Order (the Stipulation). The provision in question states, "Should defense counsel want copies of non-interview documents or tapes from these discovery files, the parties shall determine the most expeditious manner for copying." Stipulation, ¶ 6. Johnson argued that, based upon the language of the Stipulation, the government should be compelled to provide copies of the documents in question. However, she contended that, despite personal conferences between counsel for the parties, the parties were at an impasse over production of the copies, because the government would not agree to comply with the Stipulation and the defense would not release the government from its obligation to comply with the Stipulation and would not make concessions to procure such compliance.
The government resisted the motion, on the ground that the documents in Series "E" and Series "K" had already been provided to Johnson, albeit not in Bates-stamped format. The government argued that it had offered Bates-stamped documents to replace the sets already in defense hands, but would do so only if Johnson returned the sets of those documents that she already has and only with a watermark that Johnson finds objectionable. The government also suggested that the defense team could manually annotate the copies already in its possession by comparing them to the Bates-stamped documents in the discovery file, if the watermark was objectionable. The government also argued that Johnson should have returned the Jencks Act materials in Series "K" that she had received before the hearings on suppression of McNeese's evidence. As to the documents in Series "J," the government argued that the materials were in the open file for discovery, and individual documents could be copied upon an adequate showing of entitlement, but that there was no justification for wholesale copying of the entire Series. At the invitation of Magistrate Judge Paul A. Zoss, during a hearing on Johnson's motion to compel, the government filed a supplemental brief concerning the language of paragraph 6 of the Stipulation, asserting, in essence, that the language is ambiguous. However, the government suggested that Johnson check out the materials in question, pursuant to the terms of the Stipulation, then request a copy of particular documents. Only if the parties could not agree on whether the requested documents could be copied, the government argued, would a dispute about production of those documents be ripe. The government argued that such an arrangement would be within the spirit of the Stipulation.
In her reply, Johnson argued that the government had not provided all of the documents in Series "E," but had only provided some of the documents, none of which were Bates-stamped. Moreover, she contended that the government had never agreed to produce watermarked copies of those documents and was improperly demanding return of previously produced documents and improperly demanding a waiver of rights to other discovery under the Stipulation or prior discovery orders in order to get the copies she was entitled to under the Stipulation. She also argued that, with respect to Series "J" documents, the government was ignoring its agreement to produce the documents under the Stipulation by asserting narrower case law. As to Series "K" materials, Johnson argued that it did not appear that she had received all of the documents and, more importantly, that the Stipulation provides that such non-interview materials shall be copied upon request, but the government is refusing to follow the Stipulation. Moreover, she argued that the requests for Bates-stamped copies of documents previously produced is not new, but was instead contemplated in negotiation of the Stipulation and, indeed, was the reason for the "non-interview documents" clause in that Stipulation. Therefore, she contended that the government is simply trying to go back on its agreement as part of a continuing pattern of obstructive and unreasonable behavior.
In his ruling on Johnson's motion to compel, filed on May 30, 2002, Magistrate Judge Zoss pointed out that Johnson has access to all of the documents in question in her motion to compel pursuant to prior stipulations and orders regarding discovery. Therefore, he concluded that the dispute then before the court was whether the government is required to provide copies of these documents to Johnson's attorneys.
As to the documents in Series "E," Judge Zoss concluded that the government's offer to trade Johnson's unstamped copies for Bates-stamped and watermarked copies was "reasonable," and that Johnson had failed to provide persuasive support for her resistance to the government's proposal. Therefore, he granted in part and denied in part Johnson's request for an order compelling production of the documents in Series "E." Specifically, he ordered Johnson to return her copies of Series "E" Notebooks 8, 9, and 10, to the government, and upon receipt of those documents, directed the government to deliver to Johnson's defense team Bates-stamped copies of the documents in those notebooks, which Judge Zoss concluded could be watermarked, as authorized by the Stipulation, but upon Johnson's request, the government is to provide Johnson with non-watermarked copies of documents that she intends to use as exhibits at trial. Subject to the same requirements, Judge Zoss...
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Johnson v. United States
...of the alleged murders, and challenge to conspiracy count on the ground that it was untimely and duplicitous); United States v. Johnson, 236 F.Supp.2d 943 (N.D.Iowa 2002) (death penalty case involving prosecutions for murders of witnesses; ruling on appeal of magistrate judge's disposition ......
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Johnson v. United States
...of the alleged murders, and challenge to conspiracy count on the ground that it was untimely and duplicitous); United States v. Johnson, 236 F. Supp. 2d 943 (N.D. Iowa 2002) (death penalty case involving prosecutions for murders of witnesses; ruling on appeal of magistrate judge's dispositi......