Opinion ID: 780097
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Shwayder's Motion for A New Trial

Text: 27 After the trial, Shwayder retained new counsel and filed a motion for a new trial. The motion revealed Schlie's prior representation of Swan and contended that Schlie's presentation of Shwayder's case at trial was affected by an actual conflict. The district court ordered an evidentiary hearing on the motion. 28 At the hearing, Schlie testified that Swan had authorized him to use Swan's confidences in his representation of Shwayder, so long as they were not used to assist the government's case against Swan. Swan testified to the contrary — that he did not give Schlie such authority but rather insisted that Schlie preserve his attorney-client confidentiality. Schlie's notes of a conversation among him, Swan, and Swan's new attorney state that he was permitted to talk to Shwayder as long as he did not breach Swan's attorney/client privilege. Swan's waiver form states, consistent with those notes, that it does not authorize the law firm to disclose any information subject to my attorney-client privilege. 29 The decision to enter into a joint defense agreement, Schlie testified, was not affected by his prior representation of Swan. Rather, it was a result of Schlie's belief, based in part on information gathered from mock jurors, that a finger-pointing strategy would not be successful in this case and that the best chance of acquittal for Shwayder and Orton was to acquit Swan. Schlie also testified that, in his view, nothing had changed regarding the conflict of interest issues once Swan pleaded guilty. 30 After the evidentiary hearing, the district court denied the motion for a new trial, stating: 31 .... Shwayder has failed to demonstrate that Schlie's brief representation of co-Defendant Swan and subsequent representation of him created an actual conflict of interest. Indeed, the testimony of John Schlie, which the court finds entirely credible, indicates there was really nothing Schlie failed to do or did in representing Shwayder which was based on or effected [ sic ] by his prior representation of Swan. In short, the Court finds that the evidence presented failed to reveal that any theoretical conflict caused an adverse effect on Schlie's representation of Shwayder so as to warrant a new trial. 32 The district court granted Shwayder's motion to reconsider its ruling on the new trial motion so as to allow Shwayder to present testimony from Nathan Drage, the attorney who participated in conversations with Schlie and Swan regarding the conflict waiver. After hearing Drage's testimony, the district court again denied the motion, stating: 33 Notwithstanding Defendant Shwayder's argument that the testimony of Co-Defendant Swan and Drage regarding the 1996 telephone conversation should be credited because they testified against their self interest, the Court maintains the view that the testimony of John Schlie regarding the 1996 conversation is the most credible version of the events occurring at that time. The Court's view of Mr. Schlie's credibility is reinforced by the opportunity the Court has had to interact with Mr. Schlie in the course of pretrial and trial proceedings related to this case.