Mark Scott just capitulated on the very legal battle that's consumed the last five months of his criminal defense.

With his OneCoin trial five weeks away, Scott's lawyers reversed course on the evidence review process they'd been fighting tooth and nail since February. The move prompted the Department of Justice to accuse Scott of obstruction, and it's virtually certain to delay the trial now.

The DOJ handed over roughly a hundred thousand documents to Scott's defense team in November and December 2018, all seized from his residences. An independent Filter Team screened them and cleared about a hundred thousand as non-privileged. Standard procedure meant those documents should've gone straight to prosecutors.

Scott's attorneys had other ideas. In February 2019, they demanded the right to review the documents first. The DOJ, under no legal obligation to agree, caved anyway.

Scott's team got 25,000 documents on May 6th. The DOJ wanted their review done by May 14th. The deadline came and went in silence. The DOJ extended it to May 21st out of what they called "an abundance of caution."

Three weeks passed before Scott's lawyers resurfaced on June 25th asking for yet another extension to July 1st. Meanwhile, the Filter Team tried reaching out with a hard drive containing the second batch of documents. Scott's team still wasn't moving.

On July 1st, the date of the third extended deadline, Scott's attorneys sent a letter to the DOJ attacking the entire privilege review process itself. They filed the same arguments in court nine days later.

A hearing on July 16th produced an agreement between both sides on how to handle the review. But Scott's team then dragged their feet for another month before finally agreeing to release those initial 25,000 documents. The DOJ didn't actually start receiving them until August 15th—three and a half months after the original deadline passed.

Documents are still missing, held up by delays Scott's defense team created.

One sticking point is the crime-fraud exception, which strips away attorney-client privilege when communications involve planning or covering up crimes or fraud. Given that Scott, an attorney, is accused of helping OneCoin launder $400 million in Ponzi proceeds, the DOJ's interest in invoking it was straightforward.

The DOJ filed their crime-fraud motion on June 4th. Scott's team objected on June 28th. The court overruled them on July 23rd.

Then on August 27th, Scott's defense team suddenly informed the DOJ they'd agreed to release "all relevant documents." The sudden reversal came three months after their initial push to block the documents, and weeks after losing in court on the crime-fraud exception itself.

🤖 Quick Answer

What prompted Mark Scott's legal team to reverse their evidence review strategy?
Scott's defense team reversed their position on the evidence review process just five weeks before trial, following months of legal disputes since February 2019 regarding access to approximately one hundred thousand documents seized from his residences during the OneCoin investigation.

Why did the Department of Justice respond negatively to Scott's strategy change?
The DOJ accused Scott of obstruction after his reversal, as the defense team had been contesting standard procedures that required cleared documents to be transferred to prosecutors, ultimately resulting in trial delays.

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