Judge Paul Engelmayer
Urena, Franco and Vasquez are among the defendants in racketeering case. A number of 911 calls related to a murder charged in the indictment as a predicate act of racketeering. Only redactions from "call number 24" (Call 24), remain in dispute. Contrary to Urena and his codefendants' claim that the recording of Call 24 should be produced in its entirety because it satisfied the disclosure requirements of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, the government argued that 911 calls are subject to the Jencks Act, 18 USC §3500, and need not be produced under Rule 16. The court held Call 24 subject to Rule 16, but that redaction of information reflecting that the caller's address was near the murder site was a valid means of assuring the caller's safety. Although relevant to the defense of the predicate murder, Call 24—a "real-time play-by-play of events" made shortly after the murder and describing persons who may have been the murder's perpetrators—did not qualify as a "recitation of past occurrences" by a prospective government witness, governed by 18 USC §3500. Noting the hysterical 911 caller's fear for her life and safety the court deemed it reasonable to conclude that revealing her name or address might tend to jeopardize her safety.
