Opinion ID: 198229
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pedro De Jess

Text: 72 Defendants argue that they were not told about the government's notice to De Jess under 21 U.S.C. § 851, which exposed De Jess to harsh recidivist penalties, enhancing his motivation to tell the government what it wanted to hear. Def. Br. at 26. 73 The government's nondisclosure of its § 851 filing does not entitle the defendants to a new trial. Defendants knew full well that De Jess had a long criminal history, see Tr. 10/17 at 21-23 (Rodrguez's cross-examination detailing De Jess' prior convictions), and that a § 5K1.1 motion would trump any mandatory sentence that De Jess would otherwise receive. As a result, there is no Brady violation. See United States v. Hicks, 848 F.2d 1, 4 (1st Cir.1988). The government has no Brady burden when the necessary facts for impeachment are readily available to a diligent defender, as they were here. See Lugo v. Munoz, 682 F.2d 7, 9-10 (1st Cir.1982). 74 Further, the government's failure to disclose its promise to apprise state law enforcement authorities about De Jess' cooperation does not entitle the defendants to a new trial. At trial, there was confusion about the status of De Jess' state drug charges. The court initially told the jury that state court records indicated that De Jess had already pled guilty and been sentenced to probation on drug-trafficking charges. After further investigation, it was discovered that the charges were still pending. As a result, the court corrected the factual inaccuracy and specifically instructed the jury that 75 you may consider whether any expectancy of leniency on this pending [state] charge might have had an influence on what he said when [De Jess] testified before you. 76 Tr. 10/21 at 117. This charge, along with the extensive cross-examination conducted by the defendants concerning De Jess' alliance with the government and his motivation for a reduced sentence, rendered the government's failure to disclose its aid to De Jess insignificant.