11082018 - News Article - Portage mayor requests late arriving evidence be excluded from trial

Portage mayor requests late arriving evidence be excluded from trial
NWI Times
November 08, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/portage-mayor-requests-late-arriving-evidence-to-excluded-from-trial/article_8bf63a34-c430-5ced-9215-c0cf1c0c6628.html

HAMMOND — Attorneys for Portage Mayor James Snyder have asked the court to exclude any discovery materials produced last month, saying prosecutors are introducing late and irrelevant materials.

According to a motion filed Thursday in U.S. federal court in Hammond, Snyder's attorney, Jackie M. Bennett Jr., of Indianapolis, writes that discovery produced on Oct. 16, 2018, comes 200 days after the court ordered prosecutors to complete its discovery, and 32 days after prosecutors had said the discovery process was completed.

"This newly produced material was not generated or acquired recently," reads the motion. It contends it includes the transcript of an undercover recording between Snyder and a confidential source from May 29, 2014, and "ridiculous hearsay allegations" from two anonymous city employees to the FBI in September 2013.

Snyder, who is facing bribery and tax evasion charges, was indicted two years ago. His trial is set for Jan. 14, 2019. It has been continued multiple times.

However, that trial date may be in jeopardy, Bennett writes, because he cannot prepare for trial when the "government's case keeps shifting every two or three months when it feels like doing another discovery dump."

Bennett said Snyder does not want yet another continuance but may need it to deal with the material, which he said is not incriminating but might "bolster his defense."