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Bass moved to dismiss the death penalty notice, and he filed a discovery request for information regarding the government\u2019s death penalty charging practices and statistics by arguing that the government\u2019s capital charging practices were racially motivated. The district court granted Bass\u2019 motion for discovery and, after the government informed the court that it would not comply with the order, dismissed the death penalty notice. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court\u2019s decision to grant Bass\u2019 motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EMust a defendant seeking discovery against the United States government on a claim of selective prosecution show evidence that similarly-situated defendants of a different race were not prosecuted?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EA defendant seeking discovery against the United States government on a claim of selective prosecution must make a \u201ccredible showing\u201d that there was evidence that the government\u2019s prosecution policy had a discriminatory effect and intent. In a per curiam decision, the Court held that the defendant in this case had failed to demonstrate discriminatory effort and intent because he failed to show that similarly-situated individuals of a different race were treated differently than he was. The Court found that evidence based on national statistics did not represent similarly-situated individuals. Further, Bass\u2019 claim that African American defendants were offered plea bargains less often than white defendants did not apply to this case because he was offered a plea bargain that he turned down.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":null,"oral_argument_audio":null,"citation":{"volume":"536","page":"862","year":"2002","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_citation\/case_citation\/18903"},"decisions":[{"description":"The defendant must make a credible showing of discriminatory effect and intent, which Bass did not do in this case.","votes":[{"member":{"ID":15141,"name":"William H. 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