This morning, the Warrs will be in court before Magistrate Judge Roper for a hearing on their Motion for A Bill of Particulars. Their motion focuses on charges in the indictment that they made misrepresentations about the value of personal property in their house in Katrina insurance claims. They say that they lack sufficient information about the charges to defend them, and in motion outline different ways one could understand the charges; their point is that without knowing which reading is the one the government charges, they don’t know what they are defending against. The Government responded that motions for Bill of Particulars are not designed to get discovery, and re-characterize what the Warrs are doing as an attempt to obtain discovery about the Government’s case.
The Sun-Herald story about the hearing quotes coast lawyer Tim Holleman:
“In the eyes of the law, fraud is a serious allegation,” Holleman said. “In a civil or criminal suit, you’re supposed to give the specifics of the fraud. The purpose of that is, one, so it doesn’t change and, two, so the defendant is able to defend himself.”
Holleman said the government will be required to turn over more specifics about the case as the trial approaches, but that could be too late to formulate a defense strategy.
