Judge denies defense evidence on eve of former Oakland mayor's bribery trial – Courthouse News

Judge denies defense evidence on eve of former Oakland mayor’s bribery trial  Courthouse News

Businessman David Duong asked for the financial records of the government OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Just one day before a high-profile bribery and corruption trial involving a former Oakland mayor, one defendant asked the court to order the government to produce its star witness’s tax records Thursday. David Duong, a well-connected businessman in Oakland, requested the government produce Mario Juarez’s tax returns, in order to poke holes in Juarez’s credibility as a reliable witness. Juarez was previously business partners with Duong and his son, Andy Duong, a co-defendant. But Chief U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonazalez Rogers was quick to deny the documents as evidence at a motion hearing Thursday, but did not expound on her reasons, saying her ruling would be out shortly.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman said the defense’s motion, along with another filed Thursday morning also requesting government records, had no basis in law. She said although Juarez is a cooperating witness, doesn’t mean the government “has the returns in our possession,” noting that most of Juarez’s seized materials from search warrants — two iCloud and an email review — are now sealed and haven’t been looked at in over a year. “I’m not aware of a law that would allow the defense to dictate the government’s search warrants,” she told the court. “That would violate the