Ever since March of last year, when more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians, and others were indicted for using or selling misbranded and adulterated drugs, racing fans everywhere have been asking – when is the next round of federal indictments coming? A May 14 status conference in the case provided no more clarity on whether or when a new indictment could be filed.
U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil pressed prosecutors on the question Friday, since they – and The Jockey Club, which claims responsibility for part of the federal investigation – have talked about the possibility of a superseding indictment for months. The topic has come up in court before, since defense counsel argue they can't reasonably prepare a defense when they don't know if there are new twists coming for their clients. (A superseding indictment would replace an older indictment, and could include new charges for existing defendants, as well as the addition or removal of defendants.)
“It's certainly not our intention to announce a superseder next week or next month,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Adams. “As we sit here today I am not able to say that we are certainly or even likely to add charges in this case. This is all speculation and it need not delay moving the case forward.”
“At some point the government needs to get real and stop speculating here,” replied Vyskocil. “This case is moving forward, and I'm certainly not going to hold anything up for the government.”
Vyskocil was asked by defense attorneys to stretch out the schedule outlining when motions and responses needed to be filed in the case, as they say they're still awaiting documentation on the wire taps used by the FBI. She declined to delay things further.
Previous discussions in the case suggested that the defendants may be split into three groups and tried in three separate trials, and Vyskocil hopes the first one can begin later this year, with the other two in early 2022.
Vyskocil also reacted to a letter motion from defense attorneys requesting she recuse herself from the case, expressing frustration and disgust over the motion, which she said contained “multiple plainly false statements.” Among other things, the defense had claimed Vyskocil could not be objective because she had previously had a financial interest in the outcome of four races, in which horses she co-bred ran against trainees of indicted trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Vyskocil pointed out that she did not own the two horses making those four starts by the time they started their careers, and that none of those four starts could have resulted in breeder awards for her.
“All of the information upon which the defense relies has been publicly available since the case was assigned to me,” she said. “This meritless motion appears to be a calculated attempt to divert attention from the serious crimes with which the defendants have been accused and to obstruct and delay the orderly administration of the case. The motion is denied as frivolous, and obvious tactical gambit to delay the determination of the defendants' motion to dismiss.”
Vyskocil said she had been close to ruling on several defendants' motions to dismiss just before receiving notification they were about to ask her to recuse herself. At Friday's hearing, she denied those motions to dismiss.
Attorneys on both sides were given 30 days to confer about the proposed defendant groupings for trial and about the expert witness list each will call. Vyskocil anticipated the next status conference would be held in early September.
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