Opinion ID: 2983027
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Inadvertent Pretrial Disclosure

Text: In the course of providing discovery to the government, Gott’s trial counsel gave the government three documents, consisting of four pages, which contained statements by Gott that were subject to the attorney-client privilege or were work product. The issues for trial included whether Dobson and Gott made down payments for purchasers though disguised gifts by fictitious “family members” and whether they engaged in such acts with the intent to defraud. Dobson and Gott intended to defend the government’s allegations, in part, by claiming that Keith Smartt, a mortgage broker, had told them that a gifter need not be a family member. One of the disclosed documents, an email from Gott to his counsel, stated that Gott had called several mortgage companies to ask whether they had any programs that allowed the seller to contribute the down payment and all of them said no. Gott stated that he then called Keith Smartt, who said that several lenders had gift loan programs, under which, “as long as the funds were sourced and seasoned for 30 days, the lenders did not care where the gifter got their funds from.” Gott further stated, however, that in a subsequent conversation with both Dobson and 3 Nos. 14-5721/5722, United States v. Dobson, et al. Gott, Smartt said that “it did not matter where the gifter got the funds from as long as it was from a family member.” Upon discovering the foregoing documents, the government’s counsel contacted Gott’s counsel, who confirmed that the disclosure was inadvertent. The government’s counsel also sought advice from his office’s Professional Responsibility Officer and the Department of Justice’s Professional Responsibility Advisory Office. Subsequently, the government filed a Motion for Judicial Inquiry, seeking the district court’s guidance on how to proceed. The district court held a two-hour hearing on the matter, during which it thoroughly explored the issues with Gott’s and the government’s counsel and questioned Gott. Gott’s counsel confirmed that the disclosure was inadvertent, that the email contained attorney-client privileged information, and that Gott did not intend to waive the privilege. Gott’s counsel explained that most of the information in the email, including Smartt’s involvement, had previously been disclosed to the government through other means and suggested that precluding the government from using the email at trial would be an appropriate remedy. After the district court speculated about possible indirect uses of the email, Gott’s counsel confirmed that the email did not disclose a defense theory or identify any witness of whom the government was previously unaware. The government’s counsel confirmed that the government had previously interviewed Smartt and said that, because certain questions he intended to ask (or probably would have asked) Gott if Gott chose to testify at trial might be construed as derivative of Gott’s email, it would “be hard to unring the bell.” As such, the government’s counsel noted, the email might inhibit his cross-examination of Gott at trial. Dobson’s counsel attended the hearing but did not speak. 4 Nos. 14-5721/5722, United States v. Dobson, et al. The district court then heard from Gott. Gott said that the court should not only prohibit the government from using the email at trial, but should also remove anyone from the prosecution team that had read the email. The court questioned Gott about how the information in the email might harm Gott’s case, but Gott was unable to identify any harm—simply that the prosecutors would always have the information in the back of their minds. Gott’s counsel did not comment on Gott’s suggestion. The court observed that removal of the prosecution team was a “radical remedy” not appropriate for the circumstances because the disclosure was unintentional, the government played no part in it and took prompt and appropriate remedial steps, and removal would impose a “tremendous hardship on the government” after all of the time the attorneys and other staff spent preparing the case. Thus, the district court precluded the government from using the email in its case-in-chief, but said that it might allow it for impeachment if Gott were to testify inconsistently with his email.