09272018 - News Article - Federal judge rules against Portage mayor over email, 'taint team' issue

Federal judge rules against Portage mayor over email, 'taint team' issue
NWI Times
September 27, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/federal-judge-rules-against-portage-mayor-over-email-taint-team/article_592db4ca-fc0d-5485-9ccb-4dd1653ee600.html

HAMMOND — U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen has ruled against Portage Mayor James Snyder over Snyder's claim that emails protected by the attorney-client privilege were viewed by prosecutors and thus harmed his chance to get a fair trial.

Van Bokkelen also ruled against Snyder's claim that the process to review such privileged emails was faulty.

Snyder contended in May that emails protected by attorney-client privilege got through a three-tiered taint team, and were viewed by prosecutors. A taint team is a review process created to ensure that privileged emails are not seen by prosecutors.

That claim led to several hearings, held mostly behind closed doors, where emails were reviewed and the review process was scrutinized.

Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on three counts, including bribery and tax evasion. His trial is set for Oct. 9.

Earlier this year, Snyder's defense attorney, Jackie Bennett, of Indianapolis, filed a motion seeking either to have Snyder's indictment dismissed, or to have the federal prosecutors disqualified due to what Snyder claimed was a violation of his Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial.

In Thursday's ruling, Van Bokkelen wrote that only one of more than 40 emails involved in Snyder's claim will be excluded from being entered as evidence at his trial. That email was between Snyder and his then-attorney, Thomas Kirsch, who now is the chief federal prosecutor.

Kirsch removed himself as Snyder's defense attorney when he was appointed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana earlier this year. Kirsch recused himself from the case but was called in May to testify during a closed hearing on the issue.

Bennett told The Times on Thursday, "Mr. Snyder has been anxious to go to trial for two years, to address the false charges against him and to clear his good name. We look forward to doing so beginning Oct. 9."

Van Bokkelen ruled that two other emails, while considered privileged, did not cause Snyder to "suffer prejudice from the trial team" seeing them because prosecutors already had received information on their content before seeing the emails.

In all other instances of the emails in question, Van Bokkelen ruled they were not privileged for various reasons, including that they had included third parties or did not involve legal advice.

"Through it all, what has become clear is that, with the exception of emails containing QuickBooks data, the government trial team is not in possession of privileged materials and that the privileged financial data has not unduly prejudiced Mr. Snyder," Van Bokkelen wrote in his 18-page ruling.

"Thus, while the Court finds no fault with the taint team process, even if the process had been faulty as Mr. Snyder argues, no error has been introduced that would necessitate either dismissal of this case or recusal of the trial team," Van Bokkelen wrote.