Unusual Judge's Brief Claims Prosecutors Mischaracterized Court Record
A federal judge in San Diego has released an unusual brief he wrote that takes issues with prosecutors’ characterization of the court record regarding a secret guilty plea in a scandal involving a corrupt congressman.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns had originally filed the brief under seal with the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.). He claims prosecutors mischaracterized “substantial, relevant portions of the record in this case” involving their request for a secret guilty plea by financier Thomas Kontogiannis, who pleaded guilty last year to laundering bribe money for former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham.
Burns said the government had originally agreed that the judge would eventually release a “generic explanation” of why the proceedings were closed. He said the government’s appellate brief created a misleading impression that it had been caught off guard when he issued an order unsealing transcripts of court hearings involving the guilty plea after legal wrangling over redactions.
