United States v. Laura

500 F. Supp. 1347, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14737
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 12, 1980
DocketCrim. 76-82-10
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 500 F. Supp. 1347 (United States v. Laura) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Laura, 500 F. Supp. 1347, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14737 (E.D. Pa. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

RAYMOND J. BRODERICK, District Judge.

The defendant, Priscilla Laura, has moved under Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(d) to withdraw her plea of guilty and vacate the *1349 sentence imposed upon her pursuant to that plea. She alleges in support of her motion that there was a conflict of interest in that she and her husband were represented by the same counsel, that the trial judge did not comply with Fed.R.Crim.P. 11 when he accepted her plea, and that she was sentenced to an adult term of probation instead of a probationary term under the Youth Corrections Act. For the reasons hereinafter set forth, the defendant’s motion will be denied.

I. Sixth Amendment Claim

The defendant was indicted under two counts of a five count indictment in February of 1976 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She was twenty-one (21) years of age at that time. In Count I, the defendant was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 963. Count II charged the defendant with importing cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 952. Ten other people, including Anthony Laura, the defendant’s husband, were named as defendants in the indictment. The defendant’s husband was charged under all five counts of the indictment. 1 This case was originally assigned to another judge in this district. All of the defendants initially pleaded not guilty.

Both the defendant and her husband were represented by Robert Kalina, Esq. After a pretrial conference in April of 1976, the trial judge entered an order directing the defendant and her husband to obtain separate counsel on the ground that there was an apparent conflict of interest. In response to the trial judge’s order, both defendants filed separate affidavits in which each stated that he and she desired to be represented by Mr. Kalina.

At a hearing on the pretrial motions on April 27, 1976, both the defendant and her husband stated on the record that they both desired to be represented by Mr. Kalina and waived their right to raise the conflict of interest issue. On the basis of their affidavits and their statements made at the hearing, the Court permitted Mr. Kalina to eontinue his representation of the defendant and her husband. After the hearing, the Government and the defendants entered into a plea agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, all of the defendants changed their plea from not guilty to guilty before the same trial judge in October, 1976. All of the defendants were sentenced pursuant to the plea agreement on June 20, 1977. The defendant received a sentence of probation for five years and her husband received a sentence of two years imprisonment with a special parole term of three years.

In August of 1978, while on probation, the defendant was convicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for possession and distribution of cocaine, and in September, 1978 received a sentence of four years imprisonment with a special parole term of three years. Subsequent to her conviction and sentencing in Florida, a petition to revoke her probation was filed in this court with the trial judge. Prior to the probation revocation hearing, which was scheduled for December 28, 1978, the defendant, who was then being represented by another attorney, filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea and vacate sentence. The trial judge ordered her to retain local counsel for this motion since her counsel was not a member of the bar of this court. She retained James Rothstein, Esq., a member of the bar of this court, as local counsel. The defendant then moved to have this motion transferred to another judge on the ground that there was a conflict of interest between the trial judge and her local counsel. The trial judge ordered Mr. Rothstein to withdraw from the case, and directed that her attorney, Mr. Casteleiro, proceed with the hearing on the motion without local counsel. After the hearing, the trial judge denied-the defendant’s motion to withdraw her guilty plea and vacate sentence, found her in violation of probation, revoked her probation, and sentenced her to a term of imprisonment of two years with a special parole term of three years.

*1350 The defendant filed an appeal. Our Third Circuit, in United States v. Laura, 607 F.2d 52 (3d Cir. 1979), stated:

We find that on the present record the dismissal of James Rothstein may have violated Laura’s sixth amendment right to counsel and that the dismissal may have tainted the proceedings that followed. We will therefore remand to the district court without reaching Laura’s claim as to the validity of her original 1976 conviction. Id. at 55.

The Laura Court also stated that on remand:

the district court may either grant the defendant’s motion to transfer without considering the conflict of interest issue; or it may make findings on the question and act in accord with its findings.
Of course, if the matter is transferred to another judge, the sentence on revocation of probation must be vacated, so that the transferee judge may decide all of the issues ab initio. Id. at 58-59.

The trial judge vacated the sentence on revocation of probation and initiated steps to have the matter transferred. The case is now on our docket.

The defendant was in Florida when the trial judge entered his order that she and her husband should retain separate counsel because of an apparent conflict of interest. Mr. Kalina telephoned her and told her of the trial judge’s order. He stated that he was going to prepare affidavits for her and her husband setting forth their respective desires to have him represent both of them and waiving their rights to separate counsel. Mr. Kalina mailed an affidavit to her, which she signed, had notarized, and returned to Mr. Kalina. The affidavit, which was filed with the court, reads as follows:

PRISCILLA LAURA, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I am the defendant in the above captioned action. I am married to Anthony Laura, a codefendant in this case.
I have retained ROBERT I. KALINA, ESQ., 575 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York as my attorney in this matter. He is the attorney of my choice. My husband has retained him, and we have discussed this case and reviewed it. I perceive no conflict of interest in Mr. Kalina representing both myself and Anthony Laura and I desire to have Mr. Kalina continue to represent me while representing my husband in this matter. I hereby waive any claim to raise the issue at any stage of the proceeding of conflict of interest or lack of proper counsel.
Mr. Kalina has informed me that the Court stated to him at a conference on April 13, 1976 that either myself or Anthony Laura should obtain other counsel, and that Mr. Kalina could not represent both of us.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Olivia Martinez-Martinez
69 F.3d 1215 (First Circuit, 1995)
Tyson v. DIST. COURT FOR FOURTH JUD. DIST.
891 P.2d 984 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1995)
State v. Parisien
469 N.W.2d 563 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1991)
Armstrong v. People
701 P.2d 17 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1985)
United States v. Hipolito Rivera-Ramirez
715 F.2d 453 (Ninth Circuit, 1983)
United States v. Gale Rene Hobson
686 F.2d 628 (Eighth Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Laura, Priscilla Dominguez
667 F.2d 365 (Third Circuit, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
500 F. Supp. 1347, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-laura-paed-1980.