Rather, the procedure for making these determinations is different in that it balances the right of a criminal defendant with the right of the sovereign to know in advance of a potential threat from a criminal prosecution to its national security. App III.ĬIPA is a procedural statute it neither adds to nor detracts from the substantive rights of the defendant or the discoery obligations of the government. The tool with which the proper protection of classified information may be ensured in indicted cases is the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). This responsibility applies both when the government intends to use classified information in its case-in-chief as well as when the defendant seeks to use classified information in his/her defense. DEFINITIONS, PRETRIAL CONFERENCE, PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND DISCOVERYĪfter a criminal indictment becomes public, the prosecutor remains responsible for taking reasonable precautions against the unauthorized disclosure of classified information during the case.So what might we expect from the redacted affidavit, if Judge Reinhardt releases it? It's hard to know until we see it. But when Zaid gave the government a copy of the man's obituary in an effort to get the full document released, "they said, it's not him." Cooper skyjacking case, for example, "we thought a document pertained to a particular person who was dead," he said. In FOIA litigation connected with the D.B. The client may be able to identify a witness, or piece together what was said in a discussion in which he or she participated, for example.īut generally, "it's not a smart thing to speculate," Zaid explained, because even educated guesses can be wrong. Zaid said that even when information in court papers is redacted, it's sometimes possible to figure out what's in the blacked-out sections. Whoever sent them had provided the original pages, rather than making a photocopy, he explained. Zaid said he once received some redacted documents in a case and discovered that he could hold them up and read the words through the black ink. "It's a really sloppy-looking redaction, but no one will ever see what I cut out." In other instances, if he's instructed by the government to redact information from a document, he deletes the text and types the number of words and "deleted by the request of CIA" in its place.īut manual redactions on actual paper can go awry, too. His preferred method is to "literally cut it out with scissors and then photocopy the page," he said. Zaid generally eschews electronic redaction. 18, 2022, that portions of the affidavit could be released, with stipulations. Justice Department objected to the release of the affidavit, saying it would compromise their investigation. Affidavits often contain information about what evidence law enforcement thinks is at a property, and other facts, including witnesses who may have provided testimony. And attorneys for several media outlets, including The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, argued in court for the release of the affidavit supporting the warrant. Given the unprecedented nature of searching a former president's home, there was been an unusual amount of transparency surrounding the warrant. § 1519: Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and bankruptcy, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison ( obstruction of justice). § 2071: Concealment, removal or mutilation generally, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and disqualification from holding office ( concealing of public records). § 793: Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison ( violation of the espionage act).
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