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GARY M. RESTAINO 

United States Attorney 

District of Arizona 

KEVIN M. RAPP (Ariz. Bar No. 014249, kevin.rapp@usdoj.gov) MARGARET PERLMETER (Ariz. Bar No. 024805, margaret.perlmeter@usdoj.gov) PETER S. KOZINETS (Ariz. Bar No. 019856, peter.kozinets@usdoj.gov) ANDREW C. STONE (Ariz. Bar No. 026543, andrew.stone@usdoj.gov) 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys 

40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1800 

Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4408 

Telephone (602) 514-7500 

DAN G. BOYLE (N.Y. Bar No. 5216825, daniel.boyle2@usdoj.gov) Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 

312 N. Spring Street, Suite 1400 

Los Angeles, CA 90012 

Telephone (213) 894-2426 

KENNETH POLITE 

Assistant Attorney General 

Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice 

AUSTIN M. BERRY (Texas Bar No. 24062615, austin.berry2@usdoj.gov) 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section 

1301 New York Avenue, NW, 11th Floor 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

Telephone (202) 412-4136 

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

United States of America, 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

Michael Lacey, et al., 

 Defendants. 

CR-18-422-PHX-DJH 

UNITED STATES’ MOTION 

IN LIMINE TO PRECLUDE 

DEFENSE FROM REFERENCING 

CRAIGSLIST MEETINGS WITH 

ATTORNEYS GENERAL

Case 2:18-cr-00422-DJH Document 1600 Filed 06/08/23 Page 1 of 4
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The United States moves in limine to preclude the defense from referencing in 

opening statements any inadmissible hearsay regarding meetings between state Attorneys 

General and individuals at Craigslist. In opening statements on September 8, 2021, the 

defense stated: “They talk about charging for the ads, okay. Guess where charging for the

ads came from? The Attorney Generals [sic] met with Craigslist and said to Craigslist ‘We 

want you to charge for these adult ads because it will create a paper trail that we can find 

and, if you follow the money, you find the people involved.’ . . . . [T]he Attorneys General 

asked that the ads be charged for, and so that’s what Craigslist did.” (Doc. 1342 at 43:21-

44:6.) 1

 

Any meetings between Craigslist representatives and Attorneys General would be 

completely irrelevant to the instant matter. Fed. R. Evid. 401. What any state law 

enforcement official said to people at a different company has absolutely no bearing on the 

questions presented to the jury in this case and thus should be precluded from being 

referenced in any way simply on the basis of relevance alone. 

Additionally, there is no indication that the defense intends to call any of the 

Attorneys General or any of the individuals from Craigslist who were in such meetings. 

Consequently, this is quintessential hearsay without any suggestion that a percipient 

witness will be present in the trial to testify to such statements. Therefore, it should be 

excluded from trial if the defense attempts to introduce such statements without a proper 

witness. Fed. R. Evid. 801(c), 802. Furthermore, the defense should be precluded from 

introducing such inadmissible hearsay in the presence of the jury during opening 

statements or otherwise. Indeed, to permit such inadmissible hearsay would be more 

unfairly prejudicial than probative. Fed. R. Evid. 403. 

1

 Certification: On June 5, 2023, counsel for the United States met and conferred in good faith with Defendants’ counsel regarding the relief requested in this motion, and the parties 

could not reach agreement. The Court has not previously considered or ruled on the motion. 

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Conclusion 

 This Court should preclude the defense from referencing any statements between 

any non-testifying Attorneys General and any non-testifying witness from Craigslist. 

Respectfully submitted this 8th day of June, 2023.

 GARY M. RESTAINO 

 United States Attorney 

 District of Arizona 

 KENNETH POLITE 

 Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice 

 s/Kevin M. Rapp 

KEVIN M. RAPP 

 MARGARET PERLMETER 

 PETER KOZINETS 

 ANDREW STONE 

DANIEL BOYLE

 Assistant U.S. Attorneys 

AUSTIN M. BERRY 

Trial Attorney 

Case 2:18-cr-00422-DJH Document 1600 Filed 06/08/23 Page 3 of 4
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on June 8, 2023, I electronically transmitted the attached 

document to the Clerk’s Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a 

Notice of Electronic Filing to the CM/ECF registrants who have entered their appearance 

as counsel of record. 

s/ Daniel Parke

Daniel Parke 

U.S. Attorney’s Office 

Case 2:18-cr-00422-DJH Document 1600 Filed 06/08/23 Page 4 of 4