Bernard Kaplan and Alberto Berumen v. United States

375 F.2d 895
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 18, 1967
Docket20728_1
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 375 F.2d 895 (Bernard Kaplan and Alberto Berumen v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bernard Kaplan and Alberto Berumen v. United States, 375 F.2d 895 (9th Cir. 1967).

Opinion

BARNES, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from convictions after a court trial of a five count indictment charging appellants and one other codefendant in Count I with conspiracy to pass counterfeit money (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 472); Berumen in Counts II and IV with passing counterfeit money (18 U.S. C. § 472); Kaplan with aiding and abetting the passing of counterfeit money by the codefendant in Count III; and Kaplan and the codefendant with possession and concealment of counterfeit money in Count V.

All defendants were acquitted on Count I, Berumen convicted on Counts II and IV, and Kaplan convicted on Counts III and V and the codefendant Reinhardtsen acquitted on both substantive counts.

Jurisdiction below rested on 18 U.S.C. § 3231. It exists here pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

Counsel representing the successful defendant below now represents both appellants. He urges six grounds for reversals, with heavy emphasis on the first two. They are:

1. Appellants were denied effective assistance of counsel due to an inherent conflict of interest;

2. The trial court erroneously examined certain reports of government agents;

3. The denial of the defendant Kap-lan’s motion to suppress six $100 counterfeit bills invalidated his conviction under Count V;

4. Kaplan could not be guilty of aiding and abetting under Count III as a matter of law;

*897 5. The denial of inspection of defendants’ statements “in hands of the government” was error; and

6. Appellant Kaplan was denied due process of law.

We consider each alleged error in turn.

I.

Appellants are entitled to meaningful representation by counsel, without any possibility of conflict of interest present between any two of two or more defendants. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), Lugo v. United States, 350 F.2d 858, 859 (9th Cir. 1965). In determining this question, the trial court must be able, and be freely permitted, to rely upon counsel’s representations that the possibility of such a conflict does or does not exist. The necessary adequate representation by an attorney which the law requires implies that the court may rely on the solemn representation of a fact made by such attorney as an officer of the court. The court may go further into the factual situation if he desires, but is under no original or continuing obligation to do so. Having determined the facts, he must then rule on the legal issues.

On March 29, 1965, Mr. Beckler, counsel in the court below representing Mr. Berumen and Mr. Kaplan, represented to the trial judge there was a recently discovered possible conflict of interest in his joint representation. 1 He failed to disclose what it was. (Supp.Tr. VIII and IX.) 2

On March 29, 1965, a three day continuance to April 1st, 1965, was ordered (Supp.Tr. XIII) and a requested three weeks continuance denied. When counsel for appellants, once a longer continuance was denied, agreed he could be ready “today,” a continuance of oné day was ordered by the court. 3

When the case was called for trial on March 30, 1965, Mr. Beckler announced for his clients: “The defendant Kaplan and defendant Berumen are ready to proceed.” (Tr. p. 4.)

After careful separate waivers of a jury trial (Tr. pp. 4-10), counsel for the government raised the problem whether there then existed any conflict or apparent conflict of interest. Mr. Beckler stated the conflict had been “limited to the possibility and contingency of a jury trial. Now that that matter has been disposed of, the conflict of interests— that is my representation of Mr. Beru-men and Mr. Kaplan — is now satisfied. *898 In short, there is no conflict.” (Tr. pp. 12, 13.)

The trial court then satisfied himself of two things: (a) that the question of whether or not a jury trial should be had was the sole issue or conflict between the defendants, and (b) that it had been settled, not only to the satisfaction of the defendants’ counsel, but to the complete satisfaction of each defendant. (Tr. p. 13, 1. 1 to p. 14, 1. 5.) 4

Unlike Glasser v. United States, supra, and other law cited by appellants, the record clearly and convincingly proves there was an intentional and intelligent waiver by each defendant of separate counsel. The trial judge here did precisely what Glasser requires— made a “clear record” of a “proper waiver,” i. e., a waiver “knowingly and intentionally made.”

Just as we cannot speculate as to whether a conflict of interest, once it exists, would affect a trial (we can assume arguendo that it would), neither can we speculate that a right, once intelligently and knowingly waived, should not have been waived; or speculate whether or not there could have existed some other possible conflict of interest not factually disclosed, or even suggested, by a careful reading of the record before us. Appellants’ concession is of importance. 5

We find no merit in appellants’ position on alleged Error I.

II. Court’s Examination of Statements

When Agent Tomsic was called to the stand, counsel for the government presented certain documents to counsel for defendants. Codefendant’s counsel requested a ten minute recess to read the statements. These documents were referred to and described as follows:

“MR. BALABAN: At the request of Mr. Inman, I, in advance of trial, presented him with certain documents which were the Jencks Act statements of the witnesses who had previously testified. Despite the fact that we are not required to turn over the statements until the witness has testified, I did not believe that we would get to Mr. Tomsic by this afternoon and I planned to give Mr. Tomsic’s Jencks Act statements to defense counsel this evening in anticipation of Mr. Tomsic testifying tomorrow. I have just given them to them, handed to them the statements of Agent Tomsic prior to him taking the stand.
MR. BECKLER: I agree. There is no question. We appreciate this, and, *899 of course, Mr. Balaban is correct. We are not entitled to this until the conclusion, but it is lengthy, your Honor. I think we would save time by taking them and reading them now.” (R.T. p. 154, 1. 17 to p. 155, 1. 7.)

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375 F.2d 895, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bernard-kaplan-and-alberto-berumen-v-united-states-ca9-1967.