Defense Digs Out Of Documents In Bear Stearns Case

By TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers charged with lying to investors about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market complained on Monday that the government has hampered their defense by burying them in an avalanche of documents.

Petrial motions filed by both sides in federal court in Brooklyn did not detail the potential evidence against Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin. But the exchange signaled that the first major white-collar case to hit Wall Street amid the housing market meltdown will be complex and contentious.

Prosecutors put the total for documents it has produced at about 8 million. Defense attorneys said it was nearly 9 million — and asked a judge to order the government to tell them which of it matters.

"Discovery in this matter has left the defense looking for a needle in a haystack," wrote Cioffi's lawyers. "The government ... has refused to provide any guidance to the defense as to what within this mountain of discovery really is at issue."

Prosecutors countered that the defense had failed to meet its obligation to produce computer files and other information still in its possession.