Stepney

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

re Joint Defense Agreements

Defendants have been charged with conspiracy and numerous violations of federal drug and weapons laws. In a previous order, this court required that all joint defense agreements be put into writing and submitted to the court. Counsel for defendants submitted proposed joint defense agreements for in camera review. Having reviewed the proposed joint defense agreements and having heard arguments from defendants on this matter, and for the reasons stated below, the court issues the following order.

BACKGROUND

Defendants are charged with participation in the criminal enterprises of a street gang in the Hunter’s Point area of San Francisco. In a series of three indictments, the government has charged a total of nearly thirty defendants with over seventy substantive counts relating to the operation of the gang over a period of several years. The number of defendants and the separate crimes charged render this case extraordinarily factually complex. Defense counsel report that they have already received discovery of over 20,000 pages of police reports, FBI memos, and other law enforcement materials.

In an effort to prepare coherent…