motion to allow gz to receive mail

8/9/2019 Motion to Allow Gz to Receive Mail

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F F I C E O F

J O S H U A L . G O R D O N • C O N C O R D , N H • W W W . A P P E A L S L A W Y

E R . N E T

UNITED STATES

v.

CIRINO GONZALEZ

United States of America

First Circuit Court of Appeals

1st Cir. No. 2008-2300

MOTION TO ALLOW PRISONER RECEIPT OF CERTAIN MAIL

NOW COMES Cirino Gonzalez, by and through his attorney, Joshua L. Gordon, and

respectfully requests this honorable court to order the BOP to provide Mr. Gonzalez access to

certain mail.

As grounds it is stated:

1. While incarcerated, Mr. Gonzalez has been seeking access to certain documents. It is

Counsel’s understanding that Mr. Gonzalez believes the documents are necessary for two

reasons: to address an alleged mis-classification by BOP concerning the conditions of his

confinement, and to address the accuracy of information used by the lower court in arriving at his

sentence. It is unknown by Counsel in what forum or under what procedure Mr. Gonzalez plans

to use the documents, but Counsel believes Mr. Gonzalez may seek to address his concerns to

this Court.

2. The documents Mr. Gonzalez seeks are believed to be United States Marshall’s notes

of interviews conducted with two of Mr. Gonzalez’s co-defendants, which were provided to the



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Motion to Allow Access to Mail

defense during pre-trial discovery. Copies are attached. The documents are either public or in

the public domain, as Counsel was provided them via a URL web-address.

3. It is Counsel’s understanding that Mr. Gonzalez’s friends and family have repeatedly

attempted to provide the documents to him, but that the mail has been stopped at the prison door

by the Bureau of Prisons. The precise reason the documents have been rejected is unclear, but

Counsel believes it is due to security concerns. Although the documents contain numerous

references to guns, bombs, and explosives, such items were core to Mr. Gonzalez’s trial and the

BOP may thus be casting its mail-net too wide.

4. Mr. Gonzalez has requested that Counsel forward the documents under cover of

attorney-client privilege, which Counsel has indicated he will not do.

5. Counsel finds himself between an ethical Scylla and Charybdis. On the one hand,

Counsel is aware that the BOP has denied Mr. Gonzalez access to these particular documents,

and that scheming to get around the prohibition at the least violates BOP policy. On the other

hand, lawyers have a duty to provide clients their files. See e.g., Averill v. Cox, 761 A.2d 1083,

1092 (N.H. 2000) (“a client’s file belongs to the client, and upon request, an attorney must

provide the client with the file”). Moreover, prisoners have constitutional rights with regard to

receipt of mail, especially from their attorneys. See, e.g., Wolff v. McDonnell , 418 U.S. 539

(1974).

6. Even if Mr. Gonzalez cannot be given the documents outright at his place of

confinement, he must be accorded access to them, including sufficient time to review them,

thoroughly absorb the information they contain, and take notes therefrom. He must also be able



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Motion to Allow Access to Mail

to freely attach them to administrative or court pleadings, and be able to provide them to people

and agencies outside his place of confinement in connection with his allegations.

WHEREFORE, Cirino Gonzalez respectfully requests this honorable Court to order the

Bureau of Prisons to allow him to have appropriate access to the documents attached.

Respectfully submitted

for Cirino Gonzalez

by his attorney,

/s/

Dated: July 8, 2010

Joshua L. Gordon, Esq.

N.H. Bar. No. 9046

Law Office of Joshua Gordon

26 S. Main St., #175

Concord, NH 03301

603-226-4225

I hereby certify on this 8th day of July 2010, a copy of the foregoing is being forwarded to

the office of the United States Attorney.

/s/

Dated: July 8, 2010

Joshua L. Gordon, Esq.


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motion to allow gz to receive mail

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