No. CR-F-97-5274 OWW.United States District Court, E.D. California.
March 19, 2009
ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER’S MOTION TO UNSEAL TRANSCRIPT OF CHANGE OF PLEA ON DECEMBER 1, 1997
OLIVER WANGER, District Judge
On March 13, 2009, Petitioner Rashod Bledsaw, proceeding in pro per, filed a motion for an order unsealing and releasing to Petitioner the December 1, 1997 transcript of Petitioner’s change of plea in this action. Petitioner asserts that he plans to use the transcript in “my current trial currently taking place in Stanislaus County.” Petitioner requests that the transcript remain sealed and not be provided to any other person, including the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office as well as
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Petitioner’s defense counsel in the Stanislaus County action.
On December 1, 1997, Petitioner pleaded guilty pursuant to a written Plea Agreement. By Application of the United States, the Plea Agreement was sealed. AUSA Rice applied to seal the Plea Agreement “except as necessary for providing discovery to indicted defendants.” AUSA Rice averred:
The request to seal the plea agreement is made because the defendant Rashod Bledsaw is cooperating with the government in an ongoing investigation of federal crimes of violence committed by indicted and unindicted persons. The unindicted targets are now aware of the scope of the government’s investigation and the evidence gathered to date. Knowledge of the defendant’s cooperation could compromise further investigative efforts. It has also been my experience in such investigations, confirmed by the agents working on this case, that cooperating defendants whose identities are discovered are in physical danger.
In sealing the Plea Agreement, the Court ordered that the Plea Agreement “not be disclosed pending further order of this court, except as necessary to provide discovery to indicted defendants.” The transcript of the change of plea also was ordered sealed. Petitioner agreed to cooperate and testified as a Government witness at jury trial in 1999 in United States v. James Lamont Richardson, et al., No. CV-F-97-5129 OWW. The jury returned guilty verdicts against all Defendants. Defendants’ convictions were affirmed on appeal. Petitioner testified at the jury trial that he had pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal firearms from Bill’s Bait and Tackle, was pending sentence, and had received a benefit from the Government for doing so. There is no longer any
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basis for keeping the Plea Agreement and the transcipt of the change of plea under seal. Petitioner’s testimony, the fact of his cooperation, and the fact of his guilty plea in this case is all a matter of public record. According to a Press Release issued by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office on March 3, 2009, Petitioner, Elmer Scott, and Dashelle Harris were convicted in the Stanislaus County Superior Court on that date of three counts of robbery, assualt with a firearm, stealing over $50,000, and other counts stemming from the August 24, 2005 robbery of the Valley First Credit Union in Turlock, California. Sentencing is set for April 10, 2009.
Petitioner’s motion to unseal the December 1, 1997 transcript of his change of plea is GRANTED. However, Petitioner must apply to the Court Reporter for a copy of this transcript and pay the Court Reporter’s fees for the transcription because Petitioner’s request does not come within the exceptions for payment of fees set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 753(f).
Petitioner’s request that the December 1, 1997 transcript of the change of plea proceeding remained sealed to all other persons is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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