Ayala

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE WITH SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM

Respondent has filed a motion to compel Eric Hart to comply with a subpoena duces tecum that was issued to him. On October 28, 2009, the Court held a hearing on the motion. For the reasons discussed below, Respondent’s motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. BACKGROUND

This action is a death penalty habeas case. In 1988, Petitioner Ronaldo Medrano Ayala was found guilty of three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of robbery, and three counts of attempted robbery. This Court has granted Petitioner an evidentiary hearing on certain ineffective assistance of counsel claims and prosecutorial misconduct claims. The evidentiary hearing is currently scheduled to take place in March of 2010.

Eric Hart is the author of an unpublished non-fiction book about the Ayala case and the circumstances surrounding the case. The book is based on Hart’s early involvement in the case as an investigator for the Ayala defense team as well as on Hart’s independent investigation after he was no longer working for defense counsel. Hart explains that although the book is…