Opinion ID: 2962675
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Arguments applicable to all appellants

Text: All appellants contend that the Noe reports are material for two additional reasons. First, they argue that, if the Noe reports were disclosed before trial, the district court would have granted their pre-trial discovery motions to obtain additional information regarding the connection between Portalla and Silva's murder, in particular Paul A.'s motion for the identities of two confidential informants, one who stated that DiCenso said that he worked for Portalla and the other who stated that Silva was holding - 24 - guns for Portalla. However, the district court judge who denied the discovery motions is the same judge who denied their § 2255 motions, and she rejected appellants' argument that the Noe reports would have made any difference. See DeCologero II, 2013 WL 3728409, at  (stating that [w]hatever further evidence there might have been about Portalla, McConnell, and Nogueira, Paul A. did not need the FBI reports to find it). Second, appellants contend that they could have used the Noe reports at trial to demonstrate that law enforcement failed to sufficiently investigate the connection between Portalla's crew and Silva's murder and were biased by focusing their investigation on the DeCologero crew. Given the considerable evidence tying the DeCologero crew to Silva's death, we agree with the district court that, even if the Noe reports could have been introduced for this purpose, there would not be a reasonable probability of a different outcome at trial. See id. at .