Vol 12, p. 63-64 C. Sanchez - Cross by Ms. Stillinger 3 BY MS. STILLINGER: 4 Q. You told me, when we talked last week -- and I'm talking 5 about talking in court, when I was questioning you last week. 6 You told me that you just found out about the $5 million claim 7 that Mr. Aldrete-Davila filed. I think you said you found out 8 sometime around May or June. Is that right? 9 A. I believe it was May. 10 Q. Okay. Did you know that Rene Sanchez had advised 11 Mr. Aldrete-Davila about that? 12 A. No, ma'am, I did not. 13 Q. Okay. Did you know that Rene Sanchez had talked to 14 Aldrete-Davila about immunity? 15 A. No, ma'am, I did not. 16 Q. Okay. And did you know that he found him a lawyer? 17 A. No, ma'am, I did not. 18 Q. Did you just find that out for the first time when 19 Aldrete-Davila testified last week? 20 A. Yes, ma'am. (snip) 20 Q. Okay. Did you know that Rene Sanchez and Aldrete-Davila 21 had spent time together socially in Mexico between the time of 22 the shooting and today? 23 A. No, ma'am. 24 Q. Okay. Did you find that out in court for the first time 25 last week? 1 A. Yes, ma'am. 2 Q. Okay. Did you ever ask either one of them about that? 3 A. No, ma'am. 4 Q. Okay. I think you said that you were extra cautious about 5 the relationship between Rene Sanchez and Mr. Aldrete-Davila, 6 correct? 7 A. I believe said I kept it in the back of my mind. 8 Q. Okay. Were you ever given any information about Rene 9 Sanchez that caused you to be more cautious as this 10 investigation wore on? 11 A. No, ma'am. 12 Q. Okay. Do you recall getting a memo in July of this year -- 13 I'm sorry, of last year -- pertaining to Mr. Sanchez? 14 MS. KANOF: Objection, Your Honor. Approach the bench?
VOLUME 12, Page 65-66 C. Sanchez - Cross by Ms. Stillinger Q. Okay. Do you recall getting a memo in July of this year -- 13 I'm sorry, of last year -- pertaining to Mr. Sanchez? 14 MS. KANOF: Objection, Your Honor. Approach the 15 bench? 16 THE COURT: All right. 17 (Bench conference:) 18 MS. KANOF: You haven't made a ruling, Judge, on the 19 admissibility of the Nolan Blanchette memo. That's what she's 20 going into, that Nolan Blanchette told his supervisors that 21 Rene Sanchez had information about horse trailers being used to 22 traffic. 23 MS. STILLINGER: I don't think you have made a ruling 24 because there hasn't been an objection before the Court yet. 25 THE COURT: I understand. You did provide me with 1 the -- the memo. I have reviewed it. 2 And where are you going with all of this? What's the 3 relevance? 4 MS. STILLINGER: He just said -- I think Rene 5 Sanchez's credibility is relevant. I think his evaluation -- 6 THE COURT: How are you impeaching his credibility 7 with that? 8 MS. STILLINGER: Well, Ms. Kanof had him testify a lot 9 about who he believed and who he didn't believe and the steps 10 he took in his investigation, based on what he believed and 11 what he didn't believe. This guy gets a memo in July, where 12 somebody is saying -- not terrible, but saying, I have concerns 13 about Rene Sanchez. And it's not terrible, but he seems 14 unusually well informed. 15 This witness does -- instead of investigating it, he 16 turns the memo over to Rene Sanchez, so Rene Sanchez can call 17 Blanchette and say, Why are you writing these things about me? 18 It's not normal behavior. 19 It's not normal behavior, I don't think, for an OIG 20 agent to turn over an investigatory memo within hours of having 21 received it, turn it over to the subject of the memo. And I 22 think that shows his bias in this investigation. 23 THE COURT: I guess my concern is, this guy has 24 already been indicted, has he not? 25 MS. STILLINGER: Right. ...
I guess I'm in the minority, but Chris Sanchez really puts a new spin on rush to judgement (IMO). He took three whole days to investigate and arrest Ramos/Compean and didn't even bother to check into Rene Sanchez and how he knew so much about the drug dealer.