Opinion ID: 204046
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Disclosure of Photograph

Text: First, Santiago-Torres contends that the court erred in not ordering the government to produce a photograph shown to Colón-González prior to trial, which he argues was subject to disclosure under Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. We review the court's determination under Rule 16 for abuse of discretion. United States v. Caro-Muñiz, 406 F.3d 22, 29 (1st Cir. 2005). We find no such abuse here. Colón-González testified that she had personally identified both defendants to DEA agents while she and the agents were riding in an undercover car, and she had later identified Santiago-Torres in a photograph shown to her by DEA agents. Santiago-Torres objected on the ground that, during discovery, he had asked the prosecution for information about any identification procedures used in the investigation, such as photographic line-ups, and the government had responded that no such procedures had occurred. Santiago-Torres contended that the government should have disclosed the photograph during discovery so that he could cross-examine Colón-González about her identification, and requested that the court order production of the photograph. The government argued that the photograph was irrelevant because Colón-González knew Santiago-Torres from personal interactions, and did not identify him based on the photograph. The court denied Santiago-Torres's request, accepting the government's assertion that the photograph was not the basis for her identification of Santiago-Torres because she knew him personally. The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to order production of the pretrial photograph. Rule 16 requires disclosure of documents and objects within the government's possession, custody or control upon a defendant's request if (i) the item is material to preparing the defense; (ii) the government intends to use the item in its case-in-chief at trial; or (iii) the item was obtained from or belongs to the defendant. Fed.R.Crim.P. 16(a)(1)(E). Santiago-Torres contends that the photograph was material to his defense because it could have been used during cross-examination of Colón-González and could have formed the basis for a pretrial motion to suppress the reliability of her identification. However, nothing in the record indicates that Colón-González identified Santiago-Torres on the basis of the photograph. To the contrary, she testified that she had known Santiago-Torres for three years and purchased drugs from him, and that, before being shown the photograph, she had identified him in-person while riding in an undercover car with DEA agents. Thus, the photograph was not material and the government was not required to disclose it.