Limitations on a Defendant’s Ability to Obtain Victim Information Pretrial
Matthew D. Segal, JD, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of California
Federal defendants often attempt to secure pretrial subpoenas for sensitive, confidential, or privileged records of a crime victim. From the face of these subpoenas it is often clear that defendant knows only that the records, such as juvenile court records, are likely to lead to the discovery of impeachment material. This session will examine this practice and discuss the myriad of reasons why it is an improper use of a trial subpoena and how attorneys can protect their victims from such practice. Among the key points that will be discussed: Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17, which bars the use of trial subpoenas for discovery purposes, the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3771, which, in most circumstances, requires such subpoenas to be sought only with notice to the victim, and Brady v. Maryland, and its progeny, which while often cited as support for such subpoenas, do not support a claim that defendants are entitled to discovery of a victim’s records.
Matthew D. Segal is an Assistant United States Attorney in Sacramento, California. He joined the United States Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of California in 2004. He currently works in the Special Prosecutions Unit, where his responsibilities include computer crime, financial crimes, identity theft, and tax offenses. Between 1997 and 2004, Mr. Segal was a trial attorney in Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he prosecuted criminal cases involving the Sherman Act, federal program fraud, public corruption, and perjury. Between 1996 and 1997, Mr. Segal clerked for the Hon. Martin L.C. Feldman, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Mr. Segal received his law degree (cum laude) from Harvard Law School. Mr. Segal attended Columbia University, where he earned degrees as a bachelor of arts (magna cum laude) and a master of international affairs.
This conference is supported by Grant No. 2008-DD-BX-K001 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
