Despite repeated written requests for over 30 days by Nickolas Spanos's attorney Rhetta M. Daniel, the Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor is withholding and claims it is entitled to continue withholding evidence that from the Defendant that he must have to prepare for his defense of unserved Indictments.
The denial of providing the Brady Material has provoked a December 19, 2017 filing of a motion & memorandum totalling 40 pages, to compel the production of Brady Material by the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney.
Furthermore, the motion states "that the Commonwealth failed to provide the requisite documentation to the foreign authorities and the United States authorities in Greece and the Philippines to have the Defendant extradited timely. The Defendant also has reason to believe the Commonwealth has been suppressing evidence that casts grave doubts on the quality of the Commonwealth’s investigation, including evidence that the Commonwealth in its investigation failed to find any physical evidence that the Defendant could be convicted of any of the charges set out in the said Indictments."
The 1998-99 Grand Jury 13 Indictments against Spanos are for Conspiracy to distribute Cocaine, The indictments claim that Spanos was involved in the trafficking of narcotics from 1987 to 1998.
A meeting, in November 1998, Spanos and his attorney Murray Janus met with Howard Vick and two Henrico detectives, Vick gave Spanos three choices "cooperate by testifying against others, do not cooperate and sit at the table with the big boys or you can leave for Greece". Spanos chose to leave for Greece just weeks before the Grand Jury indictments were issued against him. In various media statements he contended that the indictments were a "witch hunt" by the original Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Howard "Toby" Vick without any material evidence.
The motion states that Howard Vick intentionally avoided extraditing Spanos from Greece for reason that it would have dampened his employment opportunity with McGuire Woods LLP by creating a conflict of interest and that employment negotiations were already in place before the Grand jury indictments against Spanos were issued.
The motion also states many irregular actions by the Henrico County Commonwealth Office from 1996 to present day, the most irregular being the failure or inaction of not extraditing Spanos despite knowing where his location has been for 18 years.
Also stated that on October 18, 2012, Shannon Taylor had Spanos arrested in the Philippines but never processed an extradition request and had denied the Philippines DOJ numerous request for authenticated documents pertaining to the 13 Grand Jury indictments, which led to the illegal detention of Spanos in a Philippine jail for 19 months. The Philippine DOJ deported Spanos to Greece on June 01, 2014.
The motion is specifically requesting the following:
- Legible
copies of all documents missing from the Henrico Circuit Court files from
1996 through the present;
- Legible
copies of all statements by the defendant and any co-defendants;
- Legible
copies of all documents and tangible objects in your possession or under
your control that the prosecution will use at any Hearing or a trial;
- A
Complete Witness List of all the witnesses the prosecution plans to have
testify at a Hearing or at trial, including Ms. Shannon Taylor and Mr.
Feinmel, as well as all prior recorded verbal and all written statements,
letters, notes, computer documents containing any statements made by those
witnesses that are relevant to the underlying Indictments or the
extradition procedures engaged in by any person in the Office of the
Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney;
- Legible
copies of all reports of scientific tests and/or medical and physical
examinations that have been prepared for the prosecution of Mr. Spanos;
- Legible
copies of all exculpatory evidence within the possession or control of the
Henrico County Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, the Richmond Circuit
Court and/or the Multi-Jurisdictional Grand Jury;
- Legible
copies of all documentary or other evidence that will aid in defense of
the Defendant's cases that is in possession of or under the control of
Henrico County Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, the Henrico Police
Department, the Richmond Circuit Court and/or the Multi-Jurisdictional
Grand Jury;
- Legible
copies of all documents and all recorded information that affects the
credibility of any prosecution witnesses, such as the prosecution offered
its witness leniency in exchange for testimony, but not excluding any
other type of information that may affect the credibility of any witness,
including Ms. Taylor and Mr. Feinmel; [See: Giglio v. United States,
405 U.S. 150 (1972)];
- Legible
copies of all other exculpatory evidence such as the identity of all
missing, senile or dead witnesses, but not excluding any other type of
exculpatory evidence;
- All
evidence and documents that contain any reference to any efforts or
procedures instituted by Howard C. (Toby) Vick, former Henrico County Commonwealth’s
Attorney to have the Defendant extradited or returned from Greece to the
United States;
- All
evidence and document that contain any reference to any negotiations for
employment or offers of employment from McGuire Woods LLP, or any previous
entity to McGuire Woods LLP, related in any manner to Howard C. (Toby)
Vick, former Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney, when he was applying
for any position or any employment with McGuire Woods LLP, Richmond, VA;
- All
evidence and document that contain any reference to any negotiations or
offers from McGuire Woods LLP, or any previous entity before McGuireWoods
LLP was established, related to Howard C. (Toby) Vick’s, former Henrico
County Commonwealth’s Attorney, having contact with Richard Cullen,
Esquire, who was employed by McGuire Woods LLP, Richmond, VA, when Howard
C. (Toby) Vick, Esquire, resigned as the Henrico County Commonwealth’s
Attorney and became employed by McGuire Wood LLP or any previous entity
that became McGuireWoods LLP; https://www.mcguirewoods.com/People/V/Howard-C-Vick-Jr.aspx & https://www.mcguirewoods.com/People/C/Richard-Cullen.aspx; and
- All evidence of any type of
personal relationship with any witness between Henrico Detective/Officer
J. T. Johnson and/or Detective/Officer . . . Clavert, who were/are or may
have been employed by the Henrico County Virginia Police Department, but
not excluding any other employees of Henrico County, Virginia, from 1980
through the present.
For additional clarity, I am including and requesting the following
described materials, but not excluding any other documents, physical evidence
or intangible evidence:
(a) The names and addresses of persons the prosecutor intends to call or
may call as witnesses at trial.
(b) Statements of all other defendants and Mr. Spanos.
(c) All relevant "real evidence" seized or obtained as a part
of the investigation of the offenses charged.
(d) The existence of a felony conviction of any material witness whose
credibility is likely to be critical to the outcome of the trial.
(e) Any exculpatory evidence.
(f) Relevant written or recorded statements of witnesses or reports of
the statements of witnesses whom the prosecutor intends to call at the trial,
including any reports or statements of experts made in conjunction with the
case, including the results of physical or mental examinations, scientific
tests, experiments, or comparisons which the prosecutor intends to offer in
evidence at the trial.
Spanos's attorney Rhetta M. Daniel states in the motion, that because of the irregular actions and violation of Spanos's constitutional rights, by the three (3) generations of Commonwealths attorneys Shannon Taylor, Wade Kizer and Howard Vick, all charges and indictments against Spanos must be dismissed.
Attorney Daniel inquired concerning whether the Commonwealth had copies of the document(s) that clearly had been removed from the official Henrico Circuit Court files for the Defendant and which documents by name appeared to be critical to the defense of the Defendant, the Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney did not know if the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney had copies or not.
Copies of the motions filed can be viewed at this link:
