Opinion ID: 761821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: meeting with defense paralegal

Text: 38 In August 1996, Mikaelian's sister-in-law, a designated paralegal for Mikaelian, called Stephen Larson, the Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in Mikaelian's case, and made an appointment to meet with him. AUSA Larson and the paralegal met the next day. AUSA Larson immediately called defense counsel after the meeting, and followed up with a letter. The letter stated that the paralegal told AUSA Larson that she had just met with Mikaelian in jail, and that Mikaelian wanted her to claim (1) she was having an affair with AUSA Larson, (2) Mikaelian's counsel was a double agent for the government, (3) Mikaelian had been under the influence of drugs when he signed the plea agreement, (4) Mikaelian had never read the plea agreement, and (5) Mikaelian's counsel had never explained the agreement to him. The paralegal wanted to be relieved of her position.
39 Mikaelian claims that this meeting violated his due process right to counsel. He cites California State Bar Rule 2-100, which forbids a member of the bar representing a client from communicating directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a party the member knows to be represented by another lawyer, without the other lawyer's consent. See United States v. Lopez, 4 F.3d 1455, 1463 (9th Cir.1993) (secret meetings by defendant with federal prosecutor violated prosecutor's ethical duty to avoid communicating with represented defendant without counsel's consent). This situation, however, did not involve a meeting with the defendant, but was more akin to meetings between opposing counsel. Moreover, AUSA Larson immediately called and wrote to Mikaelian's counsel, informing him of the meeting. 40 As pertains to Mikaelian's Sixth Amendment right to counsel, Mikaelian has not shown an effect of a constitutional dimension. United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 366, 101 S.Ct. 665, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981). Mikaelian does not point to any prejudice he suffered. After the paralegal meeting, AUSA Larson continued to offer Mikaelian more chances to cooperate if the defense would submit a written proffer, which it did not.
41 In his letter to the defense after the meeting, AUSA Larson stated that in the light of Mikaelian's schemes as related by the paralegal, he was considering withdrawing any further opportunities for Mikaelian to cooperate with the government. The government did, however, subsequently offer Mikaelian more debriefing sessions. Nevertheless, defense counsel insisted at the sentencing hearing that the meeting between AUSA Larson and the paralegal and the lies told there were evidence of the government's bad faith in refusing to move for a downward departure. The AUSA responded that Mikaelian had not cooperated fully, thus justifying the decision not to move for the departure. 42 The district court on remand must decide whether the government makes a sufficient showing of Mikaelian's failure to cooperate to refute Mikaelian's bad faith claim. If Mikaelian failed to cooperate fully, then the government's decision not to recommend a downward departure for substantial assistance was not arbitrary or in bad faith, regardless of the meeting with the paralegal.
43 The government filed a declaration by AUSA Larson in camera and under seal in the district court regarding the meeting with Mikaelian's paralegal (hereinafter the paralegal declaration). While the defense knew at the time of the sentencing hearing that the court had possession of the debriefing report, it claims it did not know of the existence of an in camera paralegal declaration until Mikaelian's counsel read the government's brief in this appeal. This muddies these already murky waters, and the defense predictably and understandably cries foul. 44 The government states that if this court determines that a remand is necessary, it would rather have the case reassigned to another district judge than disclose the in camera paralegal declaration. Because we conclude that the ex parte and in camera submission of the declaration leaves the appearance that it might have had an impact on the sentence, and because its disclosure would reveal sensitive material, we hold that on remand, the declaration should not be part of the record unless it is served on the defense. That leads us to the question of whether it is necessary to order resentencing before a different district judge, who has not reviewed the declaration. D. Remand to a different district judge 45 Although resentencing would normally be performed by the same district judge who originally sentenced the defendant, 46 in unusual circumstances resentencing before a different judge may be necessary.... [W]e [have] articulated three factors to consider in deciding whether resentencing by a new judge is appropriate: (1) whether the original judge would reasonably be expected upon remand to have substantial difficulty in putting out of his or her mind previously expressed views or findings determined to be erroneous or based on evidence that must be rejected, (2) whether reassignment is advisable to preserve the appearance of justice, and (3) whether reassignment would entail waste and duplication out of proportion to any gain in preserving the appearance of fairness. 47 Alverson, 666 F.2d at 349 (citations and quotations omitted); United States v. Chatlin, 51 F.3d 869, 875 (9th Cir.1995). The first two of these factors are of equal importance, and a finding of one of them would support a remand to a different judge. United States v. Hanna, 49 F.3d 572, 578 (9th Cir.1995) (quotations omitted). The factors are to be considered in the absence of personal bias. United States v. Huckins, 53 F.3d 276, 280 (9th Cir.1995). 48 The circumstances in this case are unusual. The judge has reviewed in camera documents which may be relevant to sentencing arguments. Ex parte communications with a bearing on the sentence are on the whole improper. Alverson, 666 F.2d at 348-49. Although the government has offered to disclose the debriefing report to Mikaelian on remand, subject to a protective order, it adamantly opposes disclosure of the paralegal declaration, preferring reassignment. 49 We choose to order reassignment. First, the district judge who sentenced Mikaelian may have a difficult time putting out of his ... mind the declaration submitted in camera regarding the defense paralegal. Id. at 349. Second, the appearance of justice would be served by having another judge, who has not reviewed in camera documents unavailable to the defense, conduct the resentencing. Third, although certainly there will be some duplication of effort, this case did not go to trial and thus it does not present a new judge with a voluminous trial record to review. 50 We do not suggest that the district judge did not attempt to make the sentencing proceedings fair and equitable. See Reese, 775 F.2d at 1078 (when ex parte submission is at issue, court of appeals may remand despite conscientious efforts by district judge to achieve fairness at sentencing). The transcript of the sentencing hearing shows that he exercised patience and thoughtfulness. Nevertheless, the unusual circumstances consisting of relevant in camera submissions of which the defense did not learn until the briefing period on appeal, and the government's opposition to disclosure of one of the submissions, call for assignment to a different district judge on remand. 1