Opinion ID: 727366
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: a sixth amendment issue.

Text: 9 Consistent with longstanding federal practice, when McDougal appeared before the grand jury on September 4, her attorneys accompanied her to the door of the grand jury room, and remained available for consultations outside the grand jury room, but were not allowed to be present during her grand jury testimony. See Fed. R. Cr. P. 6(d) (only attorneys for the government, the witness under examination ... and ... a stenographer ... may be present while the grand jury is in session); United States v. Levinson, 405 F.2d 971, 979-80 (6th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 958, 89 S.Ct. 2097, 23 L.Ed.2d 744 (1969). On appeal, McDougal argues that this violated her Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel because a grand jury proceeding is a critical stage in the criminal process for Sixth Amendment purposes. 4 10 The Supreme Court expressly rejected this argument in United States v. Mandujano, 425 U.S. 564, 581, 96 S.Ct. 1768, 1778-79, 48 L.Ed.2d 212 (1976), concluding that a grand jury witness has no Sixth Amendment right to insist upon the presence of his attorney in the grand jury room. 5 We followed Mandujano in United States v. Brown, 666 F.2d 1196, 1198-99 (8th Cir.1981). Recognizing that well-settled law is against her, McDougal cites landmark Supreme Court decisions expanding the rights of criminal defendants and urges us to move the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel inside the grand jury room. However, even if we believed that the Supreme Court is prepared to overrule Mandujano--and we do not--we must follow controlling Supreme Court precedent. See Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Exp., Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484, 109 S.Ct. 1917, 1921-22, 104 L.Ed.2d 526 (1989); Williams v. Rogers, 449 F.2d 513, 520 (8th Cir.1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 926, 92 S.Ct. 976, 30 L.Ed.2d 799 (1972). Mandujano held that the Sixth Amendment does not apply to a witness's grand jury testimony, and we are bound by that decision. 11 In United States v. Schwimmer, 882 F.2d 22, 27 (2nd Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1071, 110 S.Ct. 1114, 107 L.Ed.2d 1021 (1990), a criminal defendant sought to distinguish Mandujano because, like McDougal, he was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury while his appeal from a criminal conviction was pending. However, the Second Circuit rejected the contention that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel on his pending appeal gave the witness a right to have counsel present during his grand jury testimony: 12 Schwimmer's arguments overlook the fact that ... he has been granted use immunity ... in exchange for his testimony. Thus, the rationale of Kastigar [v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972),] completely answers appellant's constitutional objections: no valid constitutional objection lies so long as the government cannot use the compelled testimony against Schwimmer in any fashion. Accordingly, a defendant's right to counsel when a grand jury appearance is at issue extends only to the right to consult counsel outside the grand jury room. 13 Assuming without deciding that McDougal's Sixth Amendment right to counsel on appeal provides some protection regarding her testimony before the grand jury, we agree with Schwimmer that counsel's presence in the grand jury room is not constitutionally required. 14