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`Case 2:18-cr-00422-SMB Document 1216 Filed 08/13/21 Page 1 of 5
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`
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`GLENN B. McCORMICK
`Acting United States Attorney
`District of Arizona
`
`KEVIN M. RAPP (Ariz. Bar No. 014249, kevin.rapp@usdoj.gov)
`MARGARET PERLMETER (Ariz. Bar No. 024805, margaret.perlmeter@usdoj.gov)
`PETER S. KOZINETS (Ariz. Bar No. 019856, peter.kozinets@usdoj.gov)
`ANDREW C. STONE (Ariz. Bar No. 026543, andrew.stone@usdoj.gov)
`Assistant U.S. Attorneys
`40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1800
`Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4408
`Telephone (602) 514-7500
`
`DAN G. BOYLE (N.Y. Bar No. 5216825, daniel.boyle2@usdoj.gov)
`Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
`312 N. Spring Street, Suite 1400
`Los Angeles, CA 90012
`Telephone (213) 894-2426
`
`KENNETH POLITE
`Assistant Attorney General
`Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
`
`REGINALD E. JONES (Miss. Bar No. 102806, reginald.jones4@usdoj.gov)
`Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice
`Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
`950 Pennsylvania Ave N.W., Room 2116
`Washington, D.C. 20530
`Telephone (202) 616-2807
`Attorneys for Plaintiff
`
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
`
`
`No. CR-18-422-PHX-SMB
`
`
`UNITED STATES’ NOTICE OF
`SUBMISSION OF THE PROPOSED
`STATEMENT OF THE CASE,
`VERDICT FORM, AND JURY
`INSTRUCTIONS
`
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`United States of America,
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`
`v.
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`
`Michael Lacey, et al.,
`
`
`
`Defendants.
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`Case 2:18-cr-00422-SMB Document 1216 Filed 08/13/21 Page 2 of 5
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`The United States submits its proposed statement of the case, verdict form, and jury
`instructions.
`Statement of the Case
`I.
`The United States attaches its proposed statement of the case as Exhibit A. The
`government agrees that the Superseding Indictment does not need to be read to the jury in
`this case. But the jury is entitled to some explanation about the case beyond the actual
`charges. Defendants’ proposed statement offers only one sentence about Backpage—that
`it was an online classified advertising website. (Doc. 1199 at 17.) The United States has
`attempted to provide relevant information about the case in a condensed and efficient
`manner.
`Verdict Form
`II.
`The parties have submitted diametrically different proposed verdict forms. (United
`States’ Verdict Form attached as Exhibit B.) Defendants’ submission is bereft of any
`information (typically, only dates are provided) for a jury to connect a particular count to
`a victim, advertisement, or money laundering transaction. Simply stated, “[a] jury form is
`intended to assist the jury in analyzing and presenting its decision.” Cooper v. Paychex,
`Inc., 960 F. Supp. 966, 973 (E.D. Va. 1997). Defendants’ submission will not assist the
`jury in tracking the evidence and presenting its decision, and Defendants’ form should not
`be used here.
`Rather, the Court should employ the United States’ proposed verdict form. This
`case involves a 211-paragraph, 92-page, 100-count Superseding Indictment that will not
`be read to the jury. The United States’ proposed verdict form condenses the substantive
`counts in the Superseding Indictment to sufficient information that will allow the jury to
`follow the evidence, differentiate among the charged counts, and clearly present its
`decision. Moreover, it is standard practice in multi-count cases tried in this District for
`verdict forms to track, on a count-by-count basis, the identifying information in the
`indictment. See, e.g., United States v. Slade, et al., 09-CR-1492-PHX-ROS, Doc. 1336,
`Verdict Form (providing dates and specific descriptions of items mailed for mail fraud
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`Case 2:18-cr-00422-SMB Document 1216 Filed 08/13/21 Page 3 of 5
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`counts; providing dates, amounts and other descriptive information for wire fraud counts;
`identifying transaction dates, amounts and other descriptors for money laundering counts);
`United States v. Audette, 14-CR-00858-PHX-SPL, Doc. 209, Verdict Form (for wire fraud
`counts, identifying financial institutions involved, dates, amounts, and account numbers
`for each charged transaction; for counts involving specific text messages or phone calls,
`providing detailed identifying information for each text or call); United States v. Hinkeldey,
`15-CR-01118-PHX-SPL, Doc. 520, Verdict Form (for mail and wire fraud counts,
`identifying dates, items mailed or transaction amounts, and senders and recipients). Unlike
`Defendants’ proposed verdict form, the United States’ form is consistent with longstanding
`practice in this District and should be used here.
`Jury Instructions
`III.
`The United States attaches its proposed jury instructions as Exhibit C. These jury
`instructions include the parties’ proposed instructions and objections. To facilitate review,
`the United States has consolidated both parties’ instructions and objections into a single
`document.
`On August 5, 2021, Defendants submitted their proposed jury instructions. (Doc.
`1199.) Defendants also attached several emails between the parties. (Id. at 98-113.) Based
`on Defendants’ submission (Doc. 1199) the government believes some clarification is
`needed.
`On June 26, 2020, the government sent drafts of its proposed jury instructions,
`verdict form, and the statement of the case to Defendants. (Doc. 1199 at 112-113.) With
`each trial continuance, Defendants delayed providing comments to government’s drafts.
`(Id. at 105, 109-110, 112.) When the Court continued the trial to August 23, 2021,
`Defendants proposed sending their comments by July 7, 2021. (Id. at 105.) The parties
`ultimately agreed to a June 15, 2021 deadline, with the government to then file the parties’
`proposed jury instructions, verdict form, and statement of the case with the Court on July
`26, 2021. (Id. at 102.)
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`Case 2:18-cr-00422-SMB Document 1216 Filed 08/13/21 Page 4 of 5
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`When the government agreed to the July 26, 2021 date, it had not yet received
`Defendants’ instructions and objections. (Doc. 1199 at 101-106.) At that time, the
`government did not anticipate that Defendants would submit 18 non-model instructions
`and modify nearly every model instruction that related to the substantive counts. (Id. at
`Ex. F.) As the government has since informed Defendants, responding to Defendants’
`proposed instructions and objections has been a time consuming task, especially
`considering that the last two months have been the government’s busiest period for trial
`preparation. (Id. at 98.) The United States has diligently worked to complete its responses
`to Defendants’ proposed instruction and objections, which are incorporated in Exhibit C.
`Respectfully submitted this 13th day of August, 2021.
`
`GLENN B. McCORMICK
`Acting United States Attorney
`District of Arizona
`
`s/ Andrew C. Stone
`KEVIN M. RAPP
`MARGARET PERLMETER
`PETER S. KOZINETS
`ANDREW C. STONE
`Assistant U.S. Attorneys
`
`DAN G. BOYLE
`Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
`KENNETH POLITE
`Assistant Attorney General
`U.S. Department of Justice
`Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
`REGINALD E. JONES
`Senior Trial Attorney
`U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division
`Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
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`Case 2:18-cr-00422-SMB Document 1216 Filed 08/13/21 Page 5 of 5
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`I hereby certify that on August 13, 2021, 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 CM/ECF registrants who have entered their appearance
`as counsel of record.
`
`s/ Marjorie Dieckman
`U.S. Attorney’s Office
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