What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Note that if an individual is listed by name, but their appearance in the case is as a government official, then they should be counted as a government rather than as a private person. For example, in the case "Billy Jones & Alfredo Ruiz v Joe Smith" where Smith is a state prisoner who brought a civil rights suit against two of the wardens in the prison (Jones & Ruiz), the following values should be coded: number of appellants that fall into the category "natural persons" =0 and number that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials" =2. A similar logic should be applied to businesses and associations. Officers of a company or association whose role in the case is as a representative of their company or association should be coded as being a business or association rather than as a natural person. However, employees of a business or a government who are suing their employer should be coded as natural persons. Likewise, employees who are charged with criminal conduct for action that was contrary to the company policies should be considered natural persons.
If the title of a case listed a corporation by name and then listed the names of two individuals that the opinion indicated were top officers of the same corporation as the appellants, then the number of appellants should be coded as three and all three were coded as a business (with the identical detailed code). Similar logic should be applied when government officials or officers of an association were listed by name.
Your specific task is to determine the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "natural persons". If the total number cannot be determined (e.g., if the appellant is listed as "Smith, et. al." and the opinion does not specify who is included in the "et.al."), then answer 99.

Opinion:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. Alejandro FERREIRA-ALAMEDA, Defendant/Appellant.
No. 84-5340.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted Nov. 3, 1986.
Decided Nov. 13, 1986.
Crossan R. Andersen, Asst. U.S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff/appellee.
Reemberto Diaz, Diaz & Batista, P.A., Hialeah, Fla., for defendant/appellant.
Before ALARCON, BRUNETTI, and NOONAN, Circuit Judges.
BRUNETTI, Circuit Judge:
Appellant Alejandro Ferreira-Alameda appeals his conviction, following a court trial on stipulated facts, for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. On appeal, Ferreira-Alameda contends that (1) he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his right to a jury trial or stipulate to the admission of his co-defendants’ testimony from a previous trial; and (2) he was denied effective assistance of counsel.
We disagree and affirm.
I.
Background
Before trial, appellant agreed with the United States Attorney to waive his right to a jury trial and to stipulate to the record of an earlier trial of his co-defendants. Ferreira-Alameda specifically retained the rights to object to evidence, move for judgment of acquittal, make closing argument, and appeal. The United States Attorney, in turn, agreed to rely only upon the recorded testimony and physical evidence introduced at the trial of appellant’s co-defendants. He also agreed to recommend no more than a five-year sentence.
On September 14, 1984, Ferreira-Alameda signed stipulations admitting the transcript testimony of eight witnesses and certain physical evidence from the previous trial of his co-defendants.
On October 29, 1984, the court found defendant guilty and sentenced him to five years. Ferreira-Alameda timely appealed.
II.
Analysis
A. Waiver of Jury Trial
Ferreira-Alameda claims that his written jury trial waiver was not effective because it did not reflect that his waiver was conditional.
We review a trial court’s ruling on the voluntariness of a guilty plea for clear error. United States v. Read, 778 F.2d 1437, 1440 (9th Cir.1985).
The record does not indicate that the agreement between the United States Attorney and appellant made Ferreira-Alameda’s waiver conditional. Rather, both parties made certain concessions. Ferreira-Alameda’s complaint seems to be that the written jury trial waiver made no mention of the other aspects of the parties’ agreement.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 23(a) requires that a defendant waive his right to trial by jury “in writing with the approval of the court and the consent of the government.” (West Supp.1986). “The general rule is that a showing that the defendant’s consent to waive his right to a jury trial was knowing, voluntary and intelligent is a necessary precondition to an effective Rule 23(a) jury trial waiver, one distinct from the requirement that the waiver be written.” 8A Moore’s Federal Practice 123.-03[2][c] (2d ed. 1984) (citing United States v. Conforte, 624 F.2d 869, 881-82 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1012, 105 S.Ct. 568, 66 L.Ed.2d 470 (1980)). The district judge fully satisfied this precondition to Ferreira-Alameda’s written waiver.
The district judge thoroughly explained the nature of a jury trial to Ferreira-Alameda and repeatedly asked appellant if he understood the right he was giving up. Furthermore, the district judge carefully informed appellant that he was giving up the rights to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and to offer evidence; he explained the appellant’s maximum possible penalty, and made sure Ferreira-Alameda understood that a jury found his co-defendants guilty on the same evidence he stipulated to.
The district court went to great lengths to assure that Ferreira-Alameda’s jury trial waiver was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent. Therefore, appellant’s claim is merit-less.
B. Stipulation to Testimony of Co-Defendants
Ferreira-Alameda also contends he did not knowingly and voluntarily give up his rights to confront and cross-examine witnesses and to introduce evidence. He claims that neither he nor his attorney knew what appellant’s co-defendants had testified to at the previous trial. Therefore, appellant contends, his stipulation to that testimony was not knowing and voluntary.
“It is the responsibility of the trial judge when accepting a stipulation or waiver to assure that it is voluntarily made.” United States v. Miller, 588 F.2d 1256, 1264 (9th Cir.1978) (citing United States v. Terrack, 515 F.2d 558, 558-60 (9th Cir.1975)), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 947, 99 S.Ct. 1426, 59 L.Ed.2d 636 (1979). The district judge thoroughly informed and questioned appellant to make such a determination.
Ferreira-Alameda claims he did not know what his co-defendants testified to. Yet he told the district judge he understood that the evidence stipulated to was the same evidence upon which a jury found his co-defendants guilty. Moreover, Ferreira-Alameda retained and his counsel exercised the right to object to any portion of the stipulated evidence. Thus, appellant’s contention that the stipulation was not voluntary is also without merit.
C. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Ferreira-Alameda’s final contention is that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his attorney stipulated to facts he did not know and because he failed to object to any evidence introduced against appellant.
Whether a defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel is a question of law reviewed de novo. Weygandt v. Ducharme, 774 F.2d 1491, 1492-93 (9th Cir.1985) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 698, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2070, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)). Review of counsel’s performance is highly deferential and there is a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct fell within the wide range of reasonable representation. United States v. Hamilton, 792 F.2d 837, 839 (9th Cir.1986) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689), 104 S.Ct. at 2065.
We recently reiterated the two-part test to evaluate claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. First, the “ ‘defendant must show that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.’ ” Eggleston v. United States, 798 F.2d 374, 376 (9th Cir.1986) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 2065). Second, counsel’s error must have prejudiced the defendant. Id. (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. at 2067).
Counsel’s stipulation to evidentiary facts does not necessarily demonstrate incompetency of counsel. United States v. Gray, 626 F.2d 102, 106 (9th Cir.1980). Although appellant’s trial counsel did not know the precise facts stipulated to, he had knowledge of their implications from reading a government trial memorandum. In addition, counsel retained the right to object to any of the stipulated evidence. Therefore, Ferreira-Alameda has not demonstrated that his counsel acted incompetently. Furthermore, he has failed to show counsel’s actions prejudiced him. Mere criticism of a trial tactic is not sufficient to support a charge of ineffective representation. United States v. Murray, 751 F.2d 1528, 1535 (9th Cir.) (quoting Gustave v. United States, 627 F.2d 901, 904 (9th Cir. 1980)), cert denied, - U.S. -, 106 S.Ct. 381, 88 L.Ed.2d 335' (1985).
Ferreira-Alameda also claims ineffective representation because his counsel failed to object to any evidence at trial. This claim is baseless since counsel made several objections at trial. Furthermore, Ferreira-Alameda has not demonstrated counsel’s failure to object prejudiced him.
III.
Conclusion
Ferreira-Alameda has failed to demonstrate that his jury trial waiver and evidentiary stipulation were not knowingly and voluntarily made. He also has not shown that his trial counsel was ineffective or that his counsel’s actions prejudiced him. Therefore, we affirm the district court’s conviction.
AFFIRMED.

Question: What is the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "natural persons"? Answer with a number.

Choices:

Answer: 1