REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS Filed by Plaintiff Marietta Terabelian as… — USA v. Ayvazyan et al (Dkt. 568)

Summary

Filed June 23, 2021 as Document 568 in Case 2:20-cr-579-SVW (C.D. Cal.), this is Marietta Terabelian's Motion for Lost Evidence Instruction, filed by counsel John L. Littrell and Ryan V. Fraser. She asks the Court to give the jury Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instruction 4.19, allowing an inference that evidence was unfavorable to the government if it failed to preserve a Wells Fargo debit card in the name of Viktoria Kauichko for fingerprinting, and photographic evidence of the contents of her luggage. The memorandum argues she disclaimed the card to Customs and Border Protection at the airport, that the government was on notice, and that its failure was at least negligent. These are the defense's contentions.

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John L. Littrell (SBN 221601) 
jlittrell@bklwlaw.com  
Ryan V. Fraser (SBN 272196) 
rfraser@bklwlaw.com  
BIENERT KATZMAN LITTRELL WILLIAMS LLP 
601 W. 5th Street, Suite 720 
Los Angeles, CA 90071 
Telephone: (213) 528-3400 
Facsimile: (949) 369-3701 
 
Attorneys for Defendant MARIETTA TERABELIAN 
 
 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA  
    
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  
Plaintiff, 
 
 
v. 
 
 
RICHARD AYVAZYAN, MARIETTA 
TERABELIAN, ARTUR AYVAZYAN, 
TAMARA DADYAN, MANUK 
GRIGORYAN, ARMAN 
HAYRAPETYAN, EDVARD 
PARONYAN, and VAHE DADYAN, 
 
 
Defendants. 
Case No.  2:20-cr-579-SVW 
 
Hon. Stephen V. Wilson   
 
 
 
 
MARIETTA TERABELIAN’S 
MOTION FOR LOST EVIDENCE 
INSTRUCTION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW     Document 568     Filed 06/23/21     Page 1 of 4   Page ID
#:6815

 
 
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TERABELIAN’S REQUEST FOR “LOST EVIDENCE” INSTRUCTION 
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TO THIS HONORABLE COURT, ALL PARTIES, AND ATTORNEYS OF 
RECORD:  
Through counsel, defendant Marietta Terabelian hereby requests the Court 
instruct the jury as follows, pursuant to Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instruction 4.19: 
 
If you find that the government intentionally or carelessly failed to preserve for 
fingerprinting the cherry blossom-patterned Wells Fargo debit card in the name of 
Viktoria Kauichko, as well as photographic evidence of the contents of Marietta 
Terabelian’s luggage, and that the government knew or should have known that this 
card and the contents of her luggage would be evidence in this case, you may infer, but 
are not required to infer, that this evidence was unfavorable to the government in its 
case against her. 
 
 
Dated:   June 23, 2021 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
BIENERT KATZMAN LITTRELL 
WILLIAMS LLP 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Ryan V. Fraser  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John L. Littrell  
Ryan V. Fraser 
 
Counsel for Defendant  
Marietta Terabelian 
 
 
 
 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW     Document 568     Filed 06/23/21     Page 2 of 4   Page ID
#:6816

 
 
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TERABELIAN’S REQUEST FOR “LOST EVIDENCE” INSTRUCTION 
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MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 
Marietta Terabelian disclaimed the Kauichko debit card at the airport during her 
interaction with Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). The government heard that 
claim, as admitted in CBP Officer Theodora Brewster’s report of the event. (She 
testified at trial as Theodora Louissaint.) See Exhibit D to Fraser Decl., CM/ECF doc. 
no. 140 (“When asked about why she was in possession of the Credit Card 
TERABELIAN stated that her husband placed it in her wallet. When asked if she knew 
who ‘Viktoria Kauichko’ was she stated she did not. . . . When asked if she ever used 
the card she stated she did not.”). This recalls the government’s failure to preserve port-
of-entry video footage in United States v. Zaragoza-Moreira, 780 F.3d 971, 982 (9th 
Cir. 2015). There, the “district court committed clear error by finding that the apparent 
exculpatory value of the Port of Entry pedestrian line video was not known to Agent 
Alvarado and that the government” after Zaragoza had notified border officers that the 
footage would corroborate her duress defense. Id. 
Here, too, the government failed to preserve exculpatory evidence of which it 
had notice. It failed to fingerprint the debit card or even to take an inventory of her 
luggage, despite being on clear notice of her denial of responsibility for the card and 
denial of having knowingly possessed the card. The government’s failure was at least 
negligent and therefore the Court should grant the requested adaptation of Ninth Circuit 
Model Jury Instruction 4.19. See also United States v. Sivilla, 714 F.3d 1168, 1174 (9th 
Cir. 2013) (“remedial jury instruction was warranted” based on government’s negligent 
failure to preserve evidence). 
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Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW     Document 568     Filed 06/23/21     Page 3 of 4   Page ID
#:6817

 
 
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TERABELIAN’S REQUEST FOR “LOST EVIDENCE” INSTRUCTION 
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Dated:   June 23, 2021 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
BIENERT KATZMAN LITTRELL 
WILLIAMS LLP 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Ryan V. Fraser  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John L. Littrell  
Ryan V. Fraser 
 
Counsel for Defendant Marietta 
Terabelian 
 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW     Document 568     Filed 06/23/21     Page 4 of 4   Page ID
#:6818

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