Fraud Case Defendent Asks Court to Extend Discovery

The Court of International Trade should push back the end of discovery until well after required disclosures in a fraud and evasion penalty case, defendant Zhe Liu said in a May 5 motion. Liu said that currently the end of discovery is set for May 15 but that initial disclosures will not be completed until after the discovery deadline, meaning that Liu would be unable to identify any individuals known to CBP that have information possibly relevant to his defense (United States v. Zhe "John" Liu, CIT # 22-00215).

The required disclosure is triggered by one of three events, Liu said: the holding of the Rule 26(f) conference, a stipulation of the parties, or a court order. Because the court did not hold a conference, Liu asked it to set a date for disclosure and move the deadline for discovery to Aug. 1. As currently constituted, any additional discovery that may come out of the required disclosure would be after the current deadline. While Liu said he understands the desire of the court to move forward, he said the additional discovery is critical to his defense.