Court Orders Government to Reproduce ESI, Discusses Need for Criminal Rules Addressing Electronic Discovery
United States v. Briggs, No. 10CR184S, 2011 WL 4017886 (W.D.N.Y. Sept. 8, 2011)
Defendants were charged with several counts related to the distribution of cocaine. In its disclosures, the Government produced thousands of pages of documents as well as audio recordings, none of which were text searchable. Defendants sought reproduction. Noting the lack of relevant criminal rules and discussing the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34, the court relied upon its inherent authority to order reproduction in native format or in a PDF format “suitable for searching.”