Woods’ Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence or Argument of Murder of a Government Witness — United States v. Shaquandra Woods et al., No. CR422-016-1 (Dkt. 298, S.D. Ga.)
Summary
A motion in limine filed in November 2023 for Shaquandra Woods in United States v. Shaquandra Woods et al., CR422-016-1, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, asking the court to exclude evidence or argument that Woods wanted a government witness murdered. The motion says that in a proffer interview with agents of the FBI and the SBA Office of Inspector General, Ashlee Parker repeated a statement attributed to Woods that Woods could have someone "touch" Courtney Gilchrist and "get rid of her". It notes that the Second Superseding Indictment (Doc. 222) charges Woods in 7 counts of wire fraud conspiracy, false claims and false documents tied to EIDL applications, but not with obstruction. The motion calls Parker an admitted liar and argues under Rules 403 and 404 that the statements are unfairly prejudicial; Woods also renews a motion for a continuance.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
_______________
SAVANNAH DIVISION
)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
)
-V- ) CR422-016-1
)
SHAQUANDRA WOODS, et. al )
)
Defendants. )
____________________________________)
WOODS’ MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OR
ARGUMENT OF MURDER OF A GOVERNMENT WITNESS
NOW COMES, Shaquandra Woods, [hereinafter, “Woods”] by and through
her undersigned counsel and moves in limine to preclude the government from presenting
evidence or argument at trial regarding the desire or plan by Woods to have a
government witness murdered. During a thorough review of the discovery provided to
Woods, she discovered that SA Douglas R. Dye of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and SA Justin Lott, Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector
General (OIG) conducted a proffer interview of Ashlee Parker. Parker repeated a
statement allegedly attributed to Woods that [because she suspected Courtney Gilchrist
of “snitching’], she could have someone "touch" Gilchrist and "get rid of her" and Parker
took that to mean, that Woods could have Gilchrist murdered.
In a Second Superseding Indictment (Doc. 222) Woods is charged in 7 counts.
Count One charges Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud; Counts Two through Five charge
the submission of False, Fictitious or Fraudulent Claims; and Counts Six and Seven
charge the submission of False Documents all in connection with applications for
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security
(“CARES”) Act. Woods is not charged with obstruction or any form of it. Such proposed
murder of Gilchrist is not an object of the alleged conspiracy. Moreover, the allegation
comes from a person who is an admitted liar. Thus, under the circumstances, the
statements by Parker are not credible nor relevant and should be excluded in the trial of
this case.
Rules 403 and 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence control the admission of
evidence in this case. The statements by Parker have no probative value. Even if the
statements have de minimis probative value the value is substantially outweighed by the
danger of unfair prejudice. Rule 403. United States v. Benton, 637 F.2d 1052, 1056 (5th
Cir. 1981)1 United States v. Harris, 886 F.3d 1120, 1131 (11th Cir. 2018). The trial court
must conduct a Rule 403 balancing test regarding Parker’s statements to the law
enforcement investigators. That Rule provides that “[t]he court may exclude relevant
evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of . . .
unfair prejudice . . . . United States v. Oury, 568 F. Supp. 3d 1380, 1389 (S.D.
Ga. 2021); United States v. King, 713 F.2d 627, 631 (11th Cir. 1983); Cf. United States
v. Matthews, 431 F.3d 1296, 1311 (11th Cir. 2005) and United States v. Beechum, 582
F.2d 898 (5th Cir.1978) (en banc). Rule 404.
There can be but one reason that the government would attempt to elicit testimony
from Parker of Woods’ desire to have Gilchrist killed---to prejudice the jury against her.
Such testimony is not probative of any issue in this case. The Court should therefore
exclude all testimony of having any government witness murdered.
1
The Eleventh Circuit adopted as precedent the cases from the Fifth Circuit in Bonner v. City of Prichard,
Ala., 661 F.2d 1206, 1213 (11th Cir. 1981).
2
CONCLUSION
The trial court should exclude all testimony, evidence and argument that Woods desired
to have Courtney Gilchrist murdered for lack of probative value and because such evidence is
substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. The admission of such evidence
would constitute an abuse of discretion by the trial court.
Woods brings to the Court’s attention that the interview the subject of this motion in
limine was only discovered because her counsel was forced to retain additional counsel to assist
her given the time constraints and the volume of the discovery provided to her. See Docs. 267,
279, 284, 286 and RESPONSE TO THE UNITED STATES’ TRIAL MEMORANDUM &
RENEWAL OF
MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE [not yet docketed]. Woods therefore renews her motion for
a continuance.
This 18th day of November 2023.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kimberly L. Copeland & Assoc., LLC.
By: Kimberly L. Copeland
Ga. Bar #186783
256 N. Brunswick Street
Jesup, Georgia, 31456-4380
(912) 530-7317
(912) 530-7318 (Fax)
Kim12cope@aol.com
The Holsey Law Firm, LLC
/s/ Juanita M. Holsey
Juanita M. Holsey
Georgia Bar No: 172161
P.O. Box 132
Jesup, GA 31598
T: 912.208.2353
3
F: 877.349.4076
juanita@holseylaw.com
Attorneys for Woods
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned attorney does hereby certify that she has this day served a true and
correct copy of the foregoing Motion In Limini in accordance with the notice of electronic
filing ("NEF") which was generated as a result of electronic filing in this Court.
This 18th day of November 2023.
/S/Kimberly L. Copeland
KIMBERLY L. COPELAND
4
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