Background
The government charged Sade Kuyoro with disaster relief fraud and wire fraud after she received approximately thirty-three thousand dollars from FEMA following Hurricane Harvey. During trial, the government disclosed two pieces of evidence late: civil recoupment letters sent to Kuyoro in two thousand twenty and an email to a third-party inspector. The district court dismissed the indictment without prejudice as a sanction for these discovery violations.
The court’s reasoning
The Fifth Circuit reviewed the dismissal de novo for Brady violations and for abuse of discretion regarding Rule sixteen and supervisory powers. The court found no Brady violation because Kuyoro could not show prejudice from the late disclosure of the recoupment letters, as she received them before cross-examination. Regarding the inspector, the court held the evidence was not suppressed because Kuyoro knew of the inspector’s existence and failed to exercise reasonable diligence to locate him. The court also found the district court abused its discretion by failing to consider the factors in United States versus Garrett and by imposing a dismissal rather than a less severe sanction like a continuance.
What it means going forward
The indictment against Sade Kuyoro is reinstated, and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings.
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