Opinion ID: 4554030
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: FBI 302s Regarding Snipers

Text: Several FBI 302s showing that heavily armed officers were present around the Bundy property were produced after the start of the trial. Two merit attention here.3 The first was the Delmolino 302, drafted in March 2015, and describing the activities of Agent Delmolino. The Delmolino 302 recounts that Agent Delmolino held a position “east of the Bundy Ranch” and at the time “was dressed in 3 A third 302 was also withheld. This 302 was drafted in April 2014, following an interview with Curtis Racker, a field staff agent. Racker had been assigned a listening and observation post near the Bundy Ranch on April 4, 2014. The Racker 302 was provided on December 15, 2017. The parties hardly discuss this 302 in their briefing. Thus, we will not pass on this 302. UNITED STATES V. BUNDY 29 BLM tactical clothing and carried a BLM AR-15 rifle.” This 302 was not provided to the defense until November 2017, after trial began. The government claims that withholding the Delmolino 302 was inadvertent.4 In the district court, the government represented that it considered the 302 relevant only after the court determined that information regarding surveillance devices was relevant. Delmolino used a “seismic sensor,” which the government believed the defendants could argue was a surveillance device. The district court concluded that the Delmolino 302 was helpful Brady material, the withholding of which caused prejudice. Given that the Delmolino 302 shows that Agent Delmolino was positioned, armed, and wearing tactical gear near the Bundy property, it weakened the government’s position that the defendants had no basis for fearing that they were surrounded by government snipers and, hence, deliberately spread misinformation to recruit armed followers. And before the Delmolino 302’s release, the defense would have had no information about Agent Delmolino being positioned near the Bundy Ranch. Thus, we conclude that district court did not clearly err in finding prejudice related to this 302. The second 302 improperly withheld from the defense recounted the observations of a National Park Service official, Ernesto Felix (the Felix 302). This 302 was drafted in January 2015, but was not produced until December 5, 2017—well after trial began. According to the government, 4 The government had previously provided 302s regarding other responsibilities of Agent Delmolino during the impound operation. However, these documents do not recount Agent Delmolino’s being posted near the Bundy Ranch in tactical gear. 30 UNITED STATES V. BUNDY the Felix 302 was found only after Payne had made a midtrial discovery request for information about specific agents. The 302 describes Felix’s recollection of the arrest of Dave Bundy on April 6, 2014. It states that Felix “observed a BLM Agent on the high ground in a ‘tactical over watch position,’ southwest of where Dave’s arrest occurred.” The date of Dave Bundy’s arrest is significant, because it was only after his arrest that the Bundys sent out a call for help, claiming that there were government snipers surrounding them. The district court concluded that the Felix 302 was Brady material, the withholding of which prejudiced the defense. The government assails the prejudice finding by saying that the Felix 302 contains duplicative information. It claims that the defendants already possessed an email that referred to agents who took an “overwatch” position during Dave Bundy’s arrest. But the government’s argument misses why these documents were useful. The defendants claim that the Bundys feared they were surrounded by heavily armed snipers. Keeping the defense from gathering as much evidence as possible to show that there was a reasonable basis to fear that snipers surrounded the property was itself harmful. Moreover, the Felix 302 actually refers to the BLM agent in the overwatch position as a “sniper.” Indeed, the Felix 302 uses both “tactical over watch position” and “sniper” to refer to the same agent. This was tangible documentation showing that the government’s own officials understood agents in overwatch positions to be equivalent to “snipers.” Even if the defendants had some other evidence of agents taking “overwatch” positions around the Bundy property, the Felix 302 supported their theory in ways that the provided emails did not. The Felix 302, therefore, adds credibility to the UNITED STATES V. BUNDY 31 Bundys’ claims that they feared the presence of “snipers” and it should have been disclosed prior to trial. In sum, like the evidence regarding the camera, these documents could have helped the defense show that the defendants genuinely feared the presence of snipers— contradicting the allegations that the defendants intentionally lied about being surrounded by snipers to inflame supporters. Given the importance of these documents, the district court did not clearly err in finding that their withholding constituted a Brady violation that prejudiced the defendants.