20-1713 United States v. Mattis, Rahman In the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit August Term, 2019 Argued: June 23, 2020 Decided: June 30, 2020 Docket No. 20-1713 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, V. COLINFORD MATTIS, UROOJ RAHMAN, Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York No. 20-403 – Margo K. Brodie, Judge. Before: NEWMAN, HALL, and LYNCH, Circuit Judges. The government appeals from an order of the district court (Brodie, J.) granting defendants Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman release pending trial. Because we cannot say that we are left with a “definite and firm conviction” that the district court erred in determining that the conditions imposed are adequate to reasonably assure the defendants do not constitute a danger to the community, we AFFIRM the order of the district court. Judge Newman dissents in a separate opinion. DAVID K. KESSLER (Kevin Trowel, Assistant United States Attorneys on the brief), for Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY, for Appellant. SABRINA P. SHROFF, Law Offices of Sabrina P. Shroff, New York, NY, for Appellee Mattis. PAUL L. SHECHTMAN (Margaret E. Lynaugh on the brief), Bracewell LLP, New York, NY, for Appellee Rahman. Brian A. Jacobs, Morvillo Abramowitz, Grand Iason & Anello PC, New York, NY, Edward Y. Kim, Krieger Kim & Lewin LLP, New York, NY for Amici Curiae Former Federal Prosecutors (joined by Joshua L. Dratel, Dratel & Lewis, P.C., New York, NY for National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), in support of Appellees. 2 PETER W. HALL, Circuit Judge: The United States appeals from a June 1, 2020 order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brodie, J.), affirming Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold’s release of Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman on bail pending trial. On May 30, 2020, the defendants-appellees were arrested following an incident in which defendant Rahman allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail into an unoccupied police vehicle and Mattis allegedly acted as the getaway driver. 1 Magistrate Judge Gold ordered each defendant released on $250,000 bond with conditions. The government appealed and Judge Brodie affirmed. On June 5, 2020, a panel of this Court granted the government’s motion to stay the release order pending resolution of this appeal. The government contends that the district court clearly erred by not explicitly stating it considered the statutory presumption favoring detention that arises in this case and by ultimately granting release. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the determination of the district court. 1 A Molotov cocktail is an incendiary device that consists of a glass bottle filled with a flammable liquid and an ignition source that is lit before releasing the bottle. 3 I. According to a complaint filed by the government, in the early morning of May 30, 2020, amidst city and nationwide protests against police brutality, Mattis and Rahman were driving around Brooklyn in Mattis’s vehicle. At one point, Rahman exited the vehicle ...
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