US authorities have refused Guyanese drug accused businessman Roger Khan’s request for a laptop computer stating that it would be a potential security breach at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre (MCC).
Instead of a lap top, if Khan really needs to use a computer he can use a configured one at the MCC with no access to the internet.
Earlier this month Robert Simels one of Khan’s lawyers made an application seeking the court’s permission for Khan to have a laptop computer while in prison. The application was made before US Judge Dora Lizette Irizarry who was expected to rule this week whether or not Khan will be allowed the laptop.
In his application, Simels said Khan would like access to the computer in the law library of Nassau jail, where he was before he was moved to the MCC, to assist in the preparation of his defence and to review materials.
United States Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said in a letter to Justice Irizarry that the Proposed Order for the laptop, filed by the man’s lawyer was directed at the Nassau County Correctional Facility but since he has been moved to MCC she would treat it as being directed to the MCC.
The letter noted that at the hearing on January 16 the government consented to defence counsel’s request that the defendant be allowed access to a laptop.
“However, after further consideration and consultation with MCC staff, the government must oppose the Proposed Order, and the defendant’s request to have a laptop in its entirety,” the letter said.
According to the letter as a rule the MCC does not allow inmates to have their own computers for security reasons. “Because of the security risks posed by computers, inmates must be constantly monitored when they are in an area of the institution where computers are located. The facility restricts inmates’ access to software, the internet, and Bureau of Prison networks and operating systems.”
The letter said inmates may have access only to computers that are configured to permit inmate use.
As a result, Khan’s proposal that he not only be permitted to have his own computer provided by his lawyer, but no employees or agents of the correctional facility be permitted to view the contents of his computer, is a security risk and against the rules of the MCC.
“There is no cause to make an exception to these rules for the defendant. MCC staff has assured the government that if the defendant receives discovery requiring electronic equipment for review, such as an audio disc, they will ensure that he has the equipment necessary to review such discovery. At this time, however, all discovery has been provided to the defendant in hard copy format. Further, the defendant has access to computers at the MCC that are designated for inmate use.
“For these reasons, the government opposes the Proposed Order, and requests that the court deny the defendant’s request that he be permitted to possess a laptop,” Mauskopf concluded.
In his application for the laptop Khan’s lawyer had said if permission were granted the computer would be maintained under the care and custody of the correctional facility during the time that Khan is incarcerated.
He had also requested that no other inmate, employees or agents of the Nassau jail should review the contents of the computer or any compact discs, as the contents are privileged and confidential.
Shortly after the application was made, Khan was transferred from the Nassau County Correctional centre to MCC.
The move was seen as beefing up security around the Guyanese who is expected to go on trial around the middle of this year.
Khan had been indicted by a New York court for allegedly conspiring to import cocaine into the US and was recently refused bail.
When Khan was arrested by the US last year June, he was incarcerated at the Nassau State prison.
One of the businessman’s lawyers said that under normal circumstances Khan would have been taken to a federal jail, but consideration might have been given to the fact that many Guyanese are being held in federal prisons and this may have opened up opportunities for him to contact potential witnesses and accusers. The lawyer said the US authorities might have been trying to avoid this and as such they placed him in a state prison.
The MCC is an administrative facility housing male and female pre-trial and holdover inmates. The jailhouse is located in lower Manhattan, New York adjacent to Foley Square and across the street from the Federal courthouse.
Khan’s lawyers have argued in court that the US government has no evidence to prosecute him and at one stage, one of the attorneys had filed a motion asking the US to withdraw the indictment.
On January 16 Khan appeared at a bail hearing and was denied pre-trial liberty following lengthy arguments over several weeks.
The judge said then that he must be held without bail and continued to deem the case a complex one. The businessman has since filed an appeal against the decision to deny him bail.
In denying Khan bail, Justice Irizarry said she did not find that the defence had provided sufficient facts to guarantee that Khan will be present for the duration of the hearing if granted bail. In addition, the judge said there is probable cause to believe Khan committed the offence listed in the indictment.
The prosecution also indicated to the court that it has close to 800 pages of evidence on Khan, wire taps and witness testimony from Guyana and persons in the US who have been around Khan while he allegedly ran his drug trafficking organisation.
Khan also faces a superseding indictment which the judge requested be presented to her by the next court date scheduled for late February.
