Opinion
22-CR-685
04-26-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CHRISTOPHER SMITH, Defendant.
ORDER
RONNIE ABRAMS, DISTRICT JUDGE
On April 23, 2024, the Court received a letter from defense counsel sent ex parte via email in response to the Court's order of April 10, 2024. The letter confirms that Mr. Ma continues to represent Mr. Smith. The letter also states that Mr. Smith seeks to withdraw his requests for a Fatico hearing. He also asks the Court to decline to consider the letters that Mr. Smith submitted ex parte and to file them under seal. (Since the Court's Order of April 10, 2024, the Court has received additional letters from Mr. Smith, dated April 5, 2024 and April 10, 2024. These letters have similarly been forwarded to Mr. Ma.) Unless requested otherwise, the Court will not consider Mr. Smith's recent letters with respect to sentencing, or for any further purpose. Because the letters are not relevant to the performance of a judicial function, they are not judicial documents. See United States v. Sours Edwards, No. 19-cr-64, 2020 WL 6151300, at *6-7 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 20, 2020). As such, they may be withdrawn without being filed on the docket; they will instead be filed under seal. In addition, because counsel's letter contains privileged information regarding attorney-client communications, that letter shall also be filed under seal. See United States v. Farooq, No. 19-CR-100, 2020 WL 1083624, at *1 & n.2 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 6, 2020).
SO ORDERED.