417

In Camera Review of Government Response

The Act provides that court review of the government's response to a challenge may be in camera. 12 U.S.C. § 3410(b). Factors meriting in camera review include the same circumstances that justify delay of notice: flight from prosecution, destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, or other serious jeopardy to an investigation or trial. It is the view of the Department that an adversary hearing would jeopardize an investigation or trial if it might reveal the identity of an informant or result in improper discovery practices by a defendant (i.e., lead to disclosure or premature discovery of information to which a defendant would not be entitled through discovery rules, the Jencks Act, or Brady). See H.R. Rep. No. 95-1383 at 224, 7 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News, 95th Cong., 2nd Sess., at 9354 (in camera provision is "to prevent abuse of the challenge procedure as a method of pretrial discovery. . . ").