Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alderson et al

Filing 108

ORDER denying 106 Letter Motion for Discovery. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants' request for production or further in camera review is DENIED as to all documents except the Related Documents. DVU is directed to submit the Related Documents for in camera review, no later than January 13, 2020. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Valerie E. Caproni on 1/09/2020) (ama)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION,:
:
Plaintiff,
:
:
-against:
:
BENJAMIN ALDERSON and
:
BRADLEY HAMILTON,
:
:
Defendants.
:
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VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge:

USDC SDNY
DOCUMENT
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
DOC #:
DATE FILED: 01/09/2020
18-CV-4930 (VEC)
ORDER

WHEREAS Defendants Alderson and Hamilton seek the production of fourteen
documents in the possession of non-party Brite Advisors USA, Inc. (“DVU”), Dkt. 105 at 1;
WHEREAS Defendants have also requested in camera review of such documents;
WHEREAS Defendants bear the initial burden of showing that the documents being
sought are relevant;
WHEREAS DVU bears the burden of showing that the documents being withheld are
privileged and that privilege has not been waived1;
WHEREAS Defendants claim, in general terms, that those documents are relevant to
their defense, and in particular, to impeaching a witness’s credibility, Dkt. 105 at 1;
WHEREAS Defendants do not dispute that those documents are privileged and protected
from disclosure absent a waiver, see Dkt. 105 at 1, 3;

1

See United States v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of Am., AFL-CIO, 119
F.3d 210, 214 (2d Cir. 1997).

WHEREAS DVU has previously waived privilege as to certain subjects (“Subjects”)
pertaining to the SEC’s complaint and investigation, for a specified time period (“Time Period”),
see Dkt. 106-2 at 2–3;
WHEREAS DVU does not dispute that two of the fourteen documents being withheld are
related to the Subjects (Related Documents)2, though it contends that the Related Documents are
beyond the Time Period, see Dkt. 106 at 2;
WHEREAS Defendants have failed to explain how each of the remaining twelve
documents could be relevant to this case, and nothing in the privilege logs or the parties’
description(s) of the documents suggests that those documents contain relevant information3;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants’ request for production or further in camera
review is DENIED as to all documents except the Related Documents. DVU is directed to
submit the Related Documents for in camera review, no later than January 13, 2020.

SO ORDERED.
_________________________________
VALERIE CAPRONI
United States District Judge

Date: January 9, 2020
New York, New York

2

The Related Documents are identified as (1) CTRL00478418, and (2) CTRL01156482, CTRL01156483,
and CTRL01156542. See Dkts. 105 at 2, 106 at 2.
3

Two of the twelve documents (DVUSA18cv4930-154315-17; DVUSA18cv4930-154390-92) have already
been submitted for in camera review; the Court has found nothing in the documents that would warrant production.

2