Motion for an Extension of Time to File Response/Reply by USA — USA v. Staveley (Dkt. 105, D.R.I. No. 1:20-mj-00034, docketed in No. 1:20-cr-00074)

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island · No. 1:20-cr-00074-WES-LDA · Doc. 105 · 2022-10-27 · Docket on CourtListener

Full text

1 
 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND 
 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  
) 
)   Criminal No. 20-074-MSM 
v. 
 
 
   
) 
)    [Civil Action No. 22-cv-00315-MSM] 
DAVID STAVELEY, 
 
 
) 
 
Defendant. 
 
 
) 
 
GOVERNMENT’S MOTION FOR 30-DAY CONTINUANCE 
 
 
The United States of America, by and through the undersigned attorneys, hereby moves 
this Court for an extension of 30 days to file its response to defendant’s petition for habeas 
corpus under 18 U.S.C. § 2255. The Government requests that the date by which it must respond 
to this petition be continued from November 3, 2022, to December 2, 2022. 
As grounds for this motion, the United States avers that additional time is needed for 
defendant’s former counsel, Jason Knight, Esq., to review his case file and to provide the 
Government with an accurate summary of his interactions with the defendant that pertain to the 
allegations made in the petition. Once this information is provided to the Government, the 
Government will need additional time to prepare a thorough response.  
On October 26, 2022, the Court granted the Government’s motion to declare that the 
attorney-client privilege had been waived with respect to the allegations made in the 2255 
petition. Prior to the entry of this order, in his desire to protect the attorney-client privilege, 
Attorney Knight declined to provide the Government with any information concerning his 
communications with the defendant. Following the entry of the order declaring a limited waiver 
of the privilege, the undersigned spoke with Attorney Knight who agreed to provide the 
Government with the information necessary to respond to the 2255 petition. However, Mr. 
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Knight indicated that he will need time to review his case file to ensure that only information 
directly relevant to defendant’s allegations be produced. Mr. Knight will then need additional 
time to provide the Government with a Declaration concerning his communications with the 
defendant as they pertain to the allegations made in the petition1. Due to his heavy work 
schedule, Mr. Knight indicated that he will not be able to complete this process in time for the 
Government to provide a comprehensive response to the petition next week. An additional 30 
days is therefore requested so that former counsel can provide the requested information and the 
Government has sufficient time to provide a thorough response to the allegations in the petition.    
 
        
 
 
 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted,    
 
ZACHARY A. CUNHA 
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY 
 
 
___________________________ 
LEE H. VILKER 
TERRENCE DONNELLY 
Assistant U.S. Attorneys 
 
 
 
 
1 Although the Court’s order directs Attorney Knight to provide the Government with all 
documents that pertain to the allegations made in the petition, the United States does not believe 
it is currently necessary for Mr. Knight to provide the Government with documents concerning 
his meetings and communications with the defendant. Although the attorney-client privilege has 
been waived with respect to these communications, the United States still wishes to protect the 
confidential nature of attorney-client communications to the greatest extent possible. Instead of 
filing heretofore privileged documents in its response, the United States intends to submit a 
declaration signed by Mr. Knight pertaining to the allegations made in the petition. If the Court, 
however, believes that it needs to review the underlying notes and other documentation made by 
Mr. Knight during his representation of the defendant, the Government will endeavor to obtain 
this material and provide it to the Court for its consideration. 
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
 
 
I hereby certify that on this 27th day of October 2022, I caused the within Government’s 
Motion to be filed electronically and it is available for viewing and downloading from the ECF 
system. I also certify that this Motion has been mailed to: 
 
 
David Staveley 
 
Reg. No. 04230-049 
 
FMC Devens – Camp 
 
P.O. Box 879 
 
Ayer, MA 01432 
 
 
/s/ Lee H. Vilker________________  
 
LEE H. VILKER 
Assistant U. S. Attorney,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U. S. Attorney's Office 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
50 Kennedy Plaza, 8th Floor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Providence, RI 02903 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
401-709-5000, 401-709-5001 (fax) 
 
 
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