Opinion ID: 2975648
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Federal investigation of defense translator

Text: Prior to the first trial, Roach and Sheldon filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the basis that FBI agents had improperly questioned a defense interpreter, Pete Galvez, who worked with the defense investigator, Brian Hackett. Roach and Sheldon contend that the agents questioned Galvez at his home about the defense’s legal strategy and inquired into privileged communications. The government responded that it had received a report that Galvez had intimidated Gomez’s wife, a witness in the case, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b) and (d), and that it accordingly had requested the FBI to inquire into the matter. A magistrate judge held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss and heard testimony from Galvez and from the FBI agents who questioned him. In a Report and Recommendation, the magistrate judge found no merit to the defendants’ claim and recommended denying their motion. The district court adopted the recommendation over the defendants’ objection, finding that the FBI agents properly investigated an alleged threat made to a potential witness, that the defense implicitly waived work-product immunity by calling Galvez to testify about the FBI interview at the evidentiary hearing, and that Galvez had been expressly directed by defense counsel not to go to the Gomez home by himself, but did so nonetheless. On appeal, Roach focuses on whether defense investigator Hackett was improperly accused of misconduct. The reason for this is not entirely clear. According to the record, Hackett and Galvez jointly visited the Gomez’s home on November 11 and spoke with Mrs. Gomez. There was some dispute, however, about whether Hackett was with Galvez when Galvez returned and allegedly intimidated Mrs. Gomez. Roach and Sheldon contend that the incident of alleged intimidation refers to a visit by both Hackett and Galvez. The magistrate judge, however, found that “[a]lthough the proof is very confusing regarding this fact, it appears that six days [after the joint visit to Gomez’s home], Galvez returned alone to Mrs. Gomez’s house and attempted to talk to her.” Neither Roach nor Sheldon offer any evidence or caselaw that would support their position that the FBI’s investigation into whether Galvez allegedly told Mrs. Gomez that he would call the police if she did not open the door to let him in constituted the “functional equivalent of wiretapping and eavesdropping” that prevented the defendants from receiving a fair trial. We likewise find no support for the defendants’ argument, and therefore adopt the findings of the magistrate judge and the ruling of the district court denying Roach’s and Sheldon’s joint motion to dismiss the indictment on this ground.