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Case: 20-cr-00330-AJN Document 196-2 Filed 04/06/21 Page 4 of 6

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she returns to the day room from the scan area. As part of every pat-down search, the defendant is required to remove her mask and open her mouth briefly so that MDC staff, who remain masked during the searches, can confirm she has not hidden contraband in her mouth.² These pat-down and mouth searches are consistent with MDC’s policy that all inmates be searched whenever they move to a different location within the jail facility. In the absence of in-person visitation, the defendant has not been strip searched. If the defendant receives in-person visits, then she, like all other inmates, will be strip searched after any in-person visit.

In addition, MDC staff search the defendant’s cell for contraband once per day. At night, MDC staff are required to confirm every fifteen minutes that the defendant is not in distress. To do so, every fifteen minutes, staff point a flashlight to the concrete ceiling of the defendant’s cell to illuminate the cell sufficiently to confirm that the defendant is breathing. At night, MDC staff have observed that the defendant wears an eye mask when she sleeps, limiting the disturbance caused by the flashlight. Additionally, MDC staff have observed that the defendant regularly sleeps through these nighttime wellness checks. The MDC continues to be of the view that all of these searches are necessary for the safety of the institution and the defendant.

The Government also inquired regarding certain complaints defense counsel raised in February 2021 regarding the defendant’s food, water, and physical wellbeing. In response, MDC

² Following defense counsel’s complaint in its February 16, 2021 letter of an inappropriately conducted pat-down search, the MDC conducted an investigation and found that, contrary to the defendant’s claim, the search in question was in fact recorded in full by a handheld camera. After reviewing the camera footage, the MDC concluded that the search was conducted appropriately and the defendant’s complaint about that incident was unfounded. MDC legal counsel further confirmed that all pat-down searches of the defendant are video recorded. Following this incident, MDC staff directed the defendant to clean her cell because it had become very dirty. Among other things, MDC staff noted that the defendant frequently did not flush her toilet after using it, which caused the cell to smell. In addition, the defendant had not cleaned her cell in some time, causing the cell to become increasingly dirty. MDC staff directed the defendant to clean her cell in response to the smell and the dirtiness, not as retaliation for complaining about a particular search.

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