The affidavit, along with any recent new research by the FBI, may be comprised largely of the special report of the Attorney General of Sao Tome and Principe, who last Fall requested a Dept. of Justice and Securities Exchange Commission investigation of its claims, which were not supported by evidence. All of those claims were rejected "in their entirety" by both the Nigeria and Sao Tome governments.
The Court has not adopted the order. It is in draft form for the judge's signature, probably after counsel was asked by the judge to prepare it. In this case, oral arguments have yet to be sscheduled on the order. A source told ERHC On The Move a hearing must occur before it takes effect, if ever. The judge can modify the order as he chooses.
We received the document from Jeff Smurlick with the subject header, "ERHC to get DOCS and Computers back." That was an error we repeated in an earlier post, regrettably.
Many have written to ask me for my opinion of the merits of the case. Without more information, I cannot say with any certainty.
Here is the proposed order:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION
In The Matter Of The Search Of 5444
Westheimer Road, Suite 1570, Houston
Texas on May 4, 2006
Case No.
ORDER
Having considered the Motion For Return Of Property, to Enjoin Government Review of Seized Documents and Computer Images, and to Unseal Affidavit in Support of Search Warrant, the Response of the United States, and the Reply of Movants, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED as follows:
1. The United States is enjoined from review of seized ERHC material, pending final judicial determination of a privilege review procedure;
2. No later than 10 days from the date of this Order, the United States shall allow ERHC to obtain a copy set of all of its seized documents currently in the Government's possession;
3. No later than 10 days from the date of this Order, the United States shall return all facially privileged paper documents to ERHC's counsel for review;
4. No later than 45 days after receipt of all facially privileged paper documents from the United States, ERHC shall have reviewed all facially privileged paper documents seized by the Government and shall produce to the Government all non-privileged documents;
5. No later than 45 days after receiving all facially privileged paper documents from the United States, ERHC shall produce a privilege log setting forth the following information for any documents withheld based upon an assertion of privilege:
(a) the date of the document;
(b) the author(s) of the document;
(c) the recipients of the document;
(d) the nature of the privilege asserted; and
(e) a description of the document;
6. No later than 10 days from the date of this Order, the United States shall return all imaged computer hard drives and other electronic data to ERHC's counsel for review;
7. No later than 45 days after receipt of all imaged computer hard drives and other electronic data from the United States, ERHC shall produce to the Government all non-privileged documents responsive to the Government's search warrant at Schedule B;
8. No later than 45 days after receipt of all imaged computer hard drives and other electronic data from the United States ERHC shall produce a privilege log setting forth the following information for any material withheld based upon an assertion of privilege:
(a) the date of the document;
(b) the author(s) of the document;
(c) the recipients of the document;
(d) the nature of the privilege asserted; and
(e) a description of the document;
9. As of the date of this Order, the Court will appoint a special master to review all remaining seized ERHC material currently in the Government's possession, and within a time period established by the special master, any privileged materials reviewed by the special master shall be returned to ERHC and logged on a privilege log to be provided to the Government; and
10. No later than 10 days from the date of this Order, the United States shall provide ERHC's counsel with a copy of the Affidavit filed in support of the Search Warrant executed on ERHC's premises on May 4, 2006;
So ORDERED in Houston, Texas, this ___ day of _____, 2006
______________________________
United States Judge
cc: All Counsel of Record
Donald J. DeGabrielle, Jr.
United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Texas
P.O. Box 61129
Houston, TX 77208
Mark F. Mendelson
Mary Kit Dimke
Department of Justice
Criminal Fraud Division
1400 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
___________________
Gregory V. Brown
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
1111 Louisiana Street
44th Floor
Houston, TX 77002-5200
Michael J. Madigan
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