UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

_________________

United States of America, )

) No. CR-18-0422-PHX-SMB

Plaintiff, )

)

vs. ) Phoenix, Arizona

) September 14, 2021

Michael Lacey, ) 9:03 a.m.

James Larkin, )

Scott Spear, )

John Brunst, )

Andrew Padilla, )

Joye Vaught, )

)

Defendants. )

_____________________________ )

BEFORE: THE HONORABLE SUSAN M. BRNOVICH, JUDGE

REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

TRIAL - DAY 8

Official Court Reporter:

Christine M. Coaly, RMR, CRR

Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, Suite 312

401 West Washington Street, Spc 37

Phoenix, Arizona 85003-2151

(602) 322-7248

Proceedings Reported by Stenographic Court Reporter

Transcript Prepared by Computer-Aided Transcription

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

A P P E A R A N C E S

For the Government:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

By: Mr. Peter S. Kozinets

Mr. Kevin M. Rapp

Ms. Margaret Wu Perlmeter

Mr. Andrew C. Stone

40 North Central Avenue, Suite 1200

Phoenix, Arizona 85004

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

By: Mr. Reginald E. Jones

1400 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 600

Washington, DC 20530

For the Defendant Lacey:

LIPSITZ GREEN SCIME CAMBRIA

By: Mr. Paul J. Cambria, Jr.

Ms. Erin E. McCampbell-Paris

42 Delaware Avenue, Suite 120

Buffalo, NY 14202

For the Defendant Larkin:

BIENERT KATZMAN

By: Mr. Thomas H. Bienert, Jr.

Ms. Whitney Z. Bernstein

903 Calle Amanecer, Suite 350

San Clemente, CA 92673

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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For the Defendant Spear:

FEDER LAW OFFICE

By: Mr. Bruce S. Feder

2930 East Camelback Road, Suite 160

Phoenix, AZ 85016

For the Defendant Brunst:

BIRD MARELLA BOXER WOLPERT NESSIM DROOKS

LINCENBERG & RHOW

By: Mr. Gopi K. Panchapakesan

Mr. Gary S. Lincenberg

1875 Century Park E, Suite 2300

Los Angeles, CA 90067

For the Defendant Padilla:

DAVID EISENBERG, PLC

By: Mr. David S. Eisenberg

3550 North Central Avenue, Suite 1155

Phoenix, AZ 85012

For the Defendant Vaught:

JOY BERTRAND, LLC

By: Ms. Joy M. Bertrand

P.O. Box 2734

Scottsdale, AZ 85252

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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P R O C E E D I N G S

THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.

All right. So I told you last night that I was taking

the motion for a mistrial under advisement last night.

I've reviewed the transcripts from the last couple of

days, and I'm going to grant the motion for mistrial.

I, at the beginning of this case, gave the government

some leeway, because child sex trafficking and sex trafficking

are forms of prostitution. Yet in the opening, and with every

witness thereafter, it seems, the government has abused that

leeway.

The government, as prosecutors, are held to a higher

standard, and their goal is not to win at any cost, but to win

by the rules, to see that justice is done. And if the

government can prove that the defendants knowingly facilitated

a business enterprise involved in prostitution and trafficking,

then they will be punished, but it should be done correctly.

Just as a few examples, just after we had a discussion

about the expert Christina Decoufle, Meg Perlmeter and the

government agreed to minimize the focus on child sex

trafficking and refer to the more general sex trafficking.

Mr. Jones then proceeded to question Dr. Cooper solely on child

sex trafficking.

There was an order that the government stay away from

the day in the life of a prostitute or victim. With Jessika

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Svendgard, the government solicited answers that went into the

abuse by her trafficker, many of those were objected to and

sustained, but then those errors -- well, that was errors

committed on top of the opening statement, which was close to

causing a mistrial.

Also, with Jessika Svendgard, the government

emphasized the 105 days over, and over, and over again. She

also talked about being raped more than once, which raises a

whole new emotional response from people.

In addition to Dr. Cooper just emphasizing child sex

trafficking above everything else, she talked about the

overwhelming majority of victims being trafficked that she

talked to were trafficked on Backpage, which although may be

true, is similar to the reputation evidence that we talked

about prior to trial, which I said would be allowed as long as

it was tethered to some communication with the defendants, and

that was not tethered to any communication with the defendants.

And I believe there were other witnesses that also

talked about the reputation of Backpage untethered from

communications with the defendants. So although I don't see

any of these as intentional misconduct, the cumulative effect

of all of that is something that I can't overlook and won't

overlook.

So the motion for mistrial is granted.

I will call the jury in to dismiss them, and then we

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will set a date a couple weeks out to talk about when we can

reconvene.

Does anybody have any questions?

(No response.)

THE COURT: All right. Can you see if we have all our

jurors.

MR. LINCENBERG: Your Honor, can we just have a moment

to confer on one issue?

Can I have a moment to confer with defense counsel,

please?

THE COURT: Sure. We're just going to call and see if

all our jurors are here.

MR. LINCENBERG: Thank you, Your Honor.

(An off-the-record discussion was held between defense

counsel.)

THE COURT: Was there anything you needed to raise

with me?

MR. LINCENBERG: No, Your Honor.

THE COURT: We're missing one juror, so I'm going to

step out for a minute.

(9:09 a.m., court stands in recess.)

(9:16 a.m., the jurors entered the courtroom.)

THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.

All right. We're back on the record with the jury

present.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, a mistrial has been

declared in this case, so you're excused from service on this

case. So you're now free to go.

You're also released from the admonition, so you can

talk about the case or not talk about the case.

I would just caution you, if you're talking to press,

you've only heard a small portion of the case, so keep that in

mind with any discussions you have or choose not to have. But

thank you for your time and attention to this matter, you were

all very diligent, and I appreciate your time and so do the

parties.

Thank you. If you would leave your notes in the jury

room, we'll take them and destroy them.

(9:17 a.m., the jurors exited the courtroom.)

THE COURT: All right. Please be seated.

Okay. I'd like to set a date in maybe three weeks

when we can discuss a new trial date.

MS. BERTRAND: Your Honor, will that be by

teleconference or will that be in person --

THE COURT: In person.

MS. BERTRAND: -- for the lawyers?

THE COURT: In person.

MS. BERTRAND: Okay.

COURTROOM DEPUTY: October 5th is exactly three weeks

from today.

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THE COURT: Since it's in person, is a Monday or

Friday better, or does it matter? Nobody has a preference?

MS. BERNSTEIN: It doesn't matter, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay.

COURTROOM DEPUTY: So Monday is --

THE COURT: Does the 5th work? We can do it at 11:00,

October 5th at 11:00 a.m.

MR. LINCENBERG: Tuesday the 5th, that works for us.

MR. EISENBERG: It works for me, Your Honor.

MS. BERTRAND: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay. I'm not hearing any objection from

the government so...

MR. RAPP: No objection.

THE COURT: October 5th at 11:00.

Okay. We're at recess. Thank you.

For the record, IM 16, although it wasn't admitted,

was marked for identification as Exhibit 6157.

We're at recess.

(Proceedings concluded at 9:19 a.m.)

* * *

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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C E R T I F I C A T E

I, CHRISTINE M. COALY, do hereby certify that I am

duly appointed and qualified to act as Official Court Reporter

for the United States District Court for the District of

Arizona.

I FURTHER CERTIFY that the foregoing pages constitute

a full, true, and accurate transcript of all of that portion of

the proceedings contained herein, had in the above-entitled

cause on the date specified therein, and that said transcript

was prepared under my direction and control.

DATED at Phoenix, Arizona, this 24th day of

September, 2021.

/s/ Christine M. Coaly_______

Christine M. Coaly, RMR, CRR

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