Opinion ID: 183244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pretrial Motion to Take Foreign Depositions

Text: The U.S. Coast Guard found De La Cruz Suarez driving a boat that contained Cuban nationals toward the United States. After indictment, De La Cruz Suarez filed a motion for authorization to take witness depositions in Cuba. De La Cruz Suarez attached to his motion six letters purportedly written by six passengers on his boat. The letters stated that each individual had attempted to come to the United States independent of De La Cruz Suarez. The individuals stated that on March 7, 2008, they left Cuba on a raft. After the raft was damaged, they were stranded without food or water on Cay Sal Bank in the Bahamas. De La Cruz Suarez came to their rescue and told them that he would turn them over to the U.S. Coast Guard. The district court granted De La Cruz Suarez’s pre-trial motion. De La Cruz Suarez took videotaped depositions of four of the six passengers.