Opinion ID: 4554030
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Hearings Regarding Withheld Evidence

Text: As trial got underway, it became apparent that important evidence had been withheld by the government. Over the course of the following weeks, the district court held several hearings regarding this evidence as it trickled out during trial.
2017, just a week into the trial, the defendants filed successive motions to dismiss for discovery misconduct. They faulted the government for failing to provide evidence regarding (1) video surveillance of the Bundy property and (2) the presence of FBI and BLM tactical units armed with AR-15 rifles. In August 2017, the defense had requested information related to a camera placed near the Bundy Ranch. The request was supported by an affidavit from Ryan Bundy, who averred that he had seen a camera device on a tripod UNITED STATES V. BUNDY 13 with a telephoto lens and a “visible laser.” He said the tripod was on a hill northeast of and overlooking the Bundy house. The government, however, had opposed this request, referring to it and other requests as a “fantastical fishing expedition.” Yet on November 3, the fourth day of trial, the defense learned that the FBI had in fact set up a camera on a hill northeast of the Bundy home. The camera had a live feed to BLM’s command center. The district court held a hearing on November 7 regarding the camera evidence. The court held another hearing the next day regarding newly released evidence showing the presence of heavily armed patrols near the Bundy property. The defendants emphasized that this new evidence was material because it undercut the government’s ability to prove that they had intentionally lied to supporters about fearing government snipers. Specifically, the defendants argued that the presence of surveillance equipment and law-enforcement officers armed with AR-15 rifles contributed to the defendants’ fear that they were surrounded. The district court agreed with the defendants that the requested surveillance-camera evidence was material. However, it also concluded that the government had not acted in bad faith by withholding information about the camera because the court had previously thought that the information related to surveillance cameras was irrelevant and there was “no apparent or readily apparent materiality.” As for the late evidence regarding heavily armed officers, the district court agreed that the information was material because it was “relevant to developing a possible defense to the allegation that false statements were provided about the existence of snipers and being isolated and surrounded.” The district court 14 UNITED STATES V. BUNDY ordered the government to turn over any additional evidence related to the surveillance camera or snipers.
November, the government disclosed additional evidence regarding the surveillance camera and officers armed with assault rifles in full tactical gear. Two disclosures came in the form of FBI investigative reports known as “302s.” The first was a 302 regarding Kevin Egbert (the Egbert 302). This 302 recorded the placement of the camera and attempts to repair it after it was damaged. The second was a 302 describing the activities of Special Agent Edward Delmolino (the Delmolino 302). This 302 described how Agent Delmolino was dressed in BLM tactical gear and took an overwatch position near the Bundy Ranch. A thumbdrive with a log of activities at the Tactical Operations Center, referred to as the “TOC Log,” was produced on November 11, 2017. This log served as the FBI’s record for SWAT operations during the impound operation. The Log referenced the insertion of “snipers” and recounted descriptions of the live feed from the surveillance camera. The defense renewed its motions to dismiss and the district court held another hearing on November 13, 2017. The government represented that the prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office had “been as diligent as we possibly can.” The district court agreed that “everyone’s doing the best they can faced with the information that we have, which is more interesting than in the usual case” and found that “there’s no Brady violation . . . , much less a pattern of any Brady violations.” But the court then stated that the government would need “to do more than it’s already done.” The defense, meanwhile, again emphasized the crucial nature of this evidence to countering the government’s theory that UNITED STATES V. BUNDY 15 the defendants had purposefully “spread[] false information about the presence of militarized government operation surrounding” the Bundy home. As for the motions to dismiss, the district court said that the defendants’ arguments were “premature” because “only 24 pages [of new discovery] ha[d] been provided.” But the court noted that if “more information . . . is provided and . . . creates prejudice, then the Court would certainly entertain” further motions. The court also expressed its dismay with the government that important evidence was being produced so late and, in particular, that the government had made “representations . . . that things did not exist but ultimately were found to exist.” Thus, while the district court believed that the prejudice to the defense was not at that point sufficient to keep the case from proceeding, it explained that prejudice would have to be reassessed “to see whether this has put the defense . . . in an untenable position.” The court warned that it might have to consider a remedy, including continuance or mistrial, with or without prejudice. “[T]here’s a lot of information that’s coming to light very late. And, so, it’s troubling to the Court.” The government, however, continued to maintain that a lot of the new information produced was not material. c. November 29 Hearing. As trial continued, testimony exposed even more withheld documents. During the pretrial discovery phase, the defense had requested “all the threat assessments prepared in this case.” The government provided one threat assessment prepared in 2014. In its opening statement, the government had referred to a BLM decision to impound Bundy’s cattle in 2012. The government represented that BLM decided not to confront Bundy “because of the concern for violence.” During testimony, 16 UNITED STATES V. BUNDY however, a prosecution witness mentioned a 2012 threat assessment, and recounted how the assessment concluded that Bundy posed no threat of harm. It then came to light that other threat assessments had been withheld—several of which had been prepared for a possible impoundment action in 2012. These assessments rated Bundy as having a low-tomoderate risk of violence. The government also produced new evidence regarding surveillance of Bundy’s home and the presence of armed officers. The new evidence was two Nevada Joint Terrorism Task Force reports. One report noted the presence of SWAT personnel and the presence of the camera with supporting technicians. It also detailed events leading to the FBI’s placement of the camera. The district court held another hearing about this new evidence on November 29, 2017. The court again expressed frustration with the “dribs and drabs” of new discovery being released. The court recognized that “the [U.S. Attorney’s Office] has been diligent,” but faulted “other government agencies; not in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” But the prosecution conceded that it had had the threat assessments in its possession all along. The government explained that it did not hand the assessments over because it considered them neither exculpatory nor responsive to the defense’s request for threat assessments “in this case.” The government also explained why it had been late in turning over several FBI investigative reports regarding tactical-operations teams once it became evident that the presence of “snipers” would be an integral part of the defense’s strategy. And it insisted that the officers present at the site were not actually snipers. The district court, however, found this explanation “very troubling,” because the court had excluded testimony at the earlier trial of the Tier 3 UNITED STATES V. BUNDY 17 co-defendants regarding the presence of snipers based on the government’s representation that there were no snipers at the site. Yet, in the middle of Bundy’s trial, the government was producing documents that referred to its own agents as “snipers.” d. December 11 Hearing. On December 11, 2017, the district court held a final hearing on the defendants’ motions to dismiss. The court reviewed the evidence that had been produced after the start of the trial. It noted that there were different deadlines for the government to produce evidence to the defense, depending on whether its obligations arose under Brady, Giglio, Jencks, or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(1)(E). In general, however, the court found that the evidence should have been produced no later than October 1, 2017, thirty days before the start of trial. Beginning with the surveillance-camera evidence, the district court was “concerned that there seems to [have been] some coyness on behalf of the government” in turning over that evidence. However, the court explained that, at that time, it appeared the information was timely provided. But the district court then stated that it was inclined to find that much of the information regarding the presence of snipers was untimely. Even though the FBI promptly turned over several 302s prepared after the discovery deadline, the district court explained that the information contained in the 302s was nevertheless untimely. The TOC Log “was in existence long before [November 2017].” The court also expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s explanation that it had not provided this information earlier because the government was unaware that this information would be central to the defense’s theory of the case. 18 UNITED STATES V. BUNDY The district court then went through the materiality of the late threat assessments. The court explained that the March 2011 assessment information contradicted other evidence and “could be useful for impeachment purposes.” It further found that the government’s production of the threat assessments was likely untimely. Thus, the district court agreed to take the motions to dismiss under submission.