Cygnus Systems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation, et al

Filing 68

Cygnus Systems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation, et al

Doc. 68

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D A N I E L G. KNAUSS U n ite d States Attorney D is tr ic t of Arizona R A Y M O N D K. W O O A s s is ta n t U.S. Attorney T w o Renaissance Square, Suite 1200 4 0 North Central Avenue P h o e n ix , Arizona 85004-4408 A r iz o n a State Bar No. 023050 T e l e p h o n e [phone] r a y m o n d . w o o @ u s d o j. g o v

U N I T E D STATES DISTRICT COURT D IS T R IC T OF ARIZONA U n ite d States of America M A G IS T R A T E NO. 07-6290M P l a i n t if f , v. F e lip e Baltazar-Suarez, a.k.a . Felipe Suarez-Baltazar, a.k.a . Felipe Baltazar, D e fe n d a n t. T h e United States of America, by and through undersigned counsel, hereby responds to d e fe n d a n t's Motion to Extend Time in Which to Indict. For the reasons set forth below, the g o v e rn m e n t believes the extension of time for 30 days is in the interests of justice. 1 . Public records on file with the Administrative Office for the United States Courts reveal th a t, for each of the last four years, immigration case filings have exceeded 2,000 defendants in th e District of Arizona. 1/ During each of those time periods, the immigration filings in Arizona w e re the highest in the entire Ninth Circuit. 2. Due to the high number of cases and limited resources, particularly in the areas of pretrial detention space and availability of judicial officers to accommodate the numerous hearings required in a normal criminal case, the United States Attorney has developed an early disposition program for G O V E R N M E N T 'S RESPONSE TO M O T I O N TO EXTEND TIME IN W H I C H TO INDICT

For the twelve month period ending March 31, 2003, the Administrative Office re p o rts 2,496 defendants were charged. For the same period ending March 31, 2004, the number in c re a se d to 2,554 defendants charged. The numbers decreased slightly for the periods ending M arc h 31, 2005 (2,422 defendants charged) and March 31, 2006 (2,292 defendants charged).

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Dockets.Justia.com

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immigration cases authorized by the Attorney General pursuant to the PROTECT ACT of 2003 which is designed to: a. Reduce the number of hearings required in order to dispose of a criminal case. b. Avoid having more cases than the judicial system can effectively handle added to the District Court trial calendar, while still discharging our duty to prosecute federal crimes. c. Ameliorate the pre-trial detention space shortage by reducing the amount of time between complaint and sentencing. d. Avoid having to empanel additional grand juries to seek indictments in immigration cases, and thus avoid those additional costs to the Court. 3. To accomplish these goals, the United States Attorney provides discovery at the outset of the case to defendants charged with violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. An early plea agreement is offered pursuant to U.S.S.G. §5K3.1 that substantially departs below the sentencing guidelines if defendant enters a guilty plea and agrees to waive a number of hearings. However, in order to waive these hearings, it has often been necessary in the short term for defendants to seek extensions of the time limits imposed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This is necessary for defendants to have sufficient time to investigate the case and make an informed decision prior to waiving any rights. 4. These extensions of time are particularly necessary in immigration cases as most defendants charged with immigration crimes require the assistance of an interpreter when speaking to defense counsel. Additionally, defendants are detained at CCA which is at least a one hour drive from Phoenix. It can often take several days or weeks to arrange for defense counsel and an interpreter to meet with the defendant. Due to the distance involved and the need for interpretation, an extension of time to indict is needed to allow defense counsel to review the discovery material with the defendant and investigate any possible defenses. 5. Although it may appear contradictory to an early disposition program to allow a defendant an extension of time to investigate the case, the United States Attorney has found that these extensions granted for the defendant's benefit actually result in the case being resolved earlier, with fewer filings and fewer hearings.

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Accordingly, the United States does not oppose Defendant's Motion to Extend Time in Which to Indict as it is in the interests of justice. Respectfully submitted this 3rd day of December, 2007. DANIEL G. KNAUSS United States Attorney District of Arizona S/Raymond K. Woo RAYMOND K. WOO Assistant U.S. Attorney Certificate of Service I hereby certify that on this day, I electronically transmitted the attached document to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants: David Ochoa