Discovery – Government Disclosure

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: FLAUM, KANNE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Discovery – Government Disclosure

No. 14-3602 United States of America v. Joshua R. Mackin

Where government’s failure to produce correct and complete copies of discovery constituted prejudice and grounds to vacate conviction for possession of a firearm.

“Adequate preparation of a defense includes the ability to intelligently weigh one’s plea options. The denial of that opportunity here constituted prejudice. See United States v. Muniz-Jaquez, 718 F.3d 1180 (9th Cir. 2013) (“A defendant who knows that the government has evidence that renders his planned defense useless can alter his trial strategy. Or he can seek a plea agreement instead of going to trial.”); Lee, 573 F.3d at 165 (“Lee might have chosen to enter into plea negotiations with the Government if he had accurate information about the strength of its case.”); United States v. Alvarez, 987 F.2d 77, 85 (1st Cir. 1993) (finding prejudice where defendant was “deprived of opportunity to design an intelligent … plea strategy”); United States v. Pascual, 606 F.2d 561, 565 (5th Cir. 1979) (“It would be hard to make an argument with any degree of plausibility that the use of this [evidence] without prior production did not seriously prejudice the defendants in exercising their option to plead not guilty.”); see also Lafler v. Cooper, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 1381 (2012) (stating that “criminal justice today is for the most part a system of pleas, not a system of trials”).”

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing attorney at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.