Opinion ID: 451965
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Confrontation Clause and Right to Counsel Claims

Text: 34 Sines claims that the taking and admission of Steneman's deposition violated his rights under the confrontation clause of the sixth amendment, and his right to effective assistance of counsel, because he could not attend Steneman's deposition in Thailand. He claims that he was presented with a Hobson's choice: he could either forego attending the deposition, or attend and risk incarceration in Thailand. As a result, he claims that he was denied his chance to confront Steneman in person and to assist his attorney on cross-examination during the deposition. 35 These contentions are without merit. Sines was given the opportunity to attend Steneman's deposition, and chose not to attend. His decision, whether reasonable or not in light of the possibility that he might be arrested in Thailand on charges of narcotics trafficking, does not preclude the government from securing Steneman's testimony. 36 Sines's ineffective assistance claims are not supported by the record. His attorney attended Steneman's deposition, took an active part in objecting to a number of the government's questions, and skillfuly cross-examined Steneman himself. Moreover, Sines's attorney was given an opportunity to contact Sines by telephone during breaks in the deposition. As a result, there is simply no basis for Sines's ineffective assistance claim. See Strickland v. Washington, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) (The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffective [assistance of counsel] must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a fair result.). 37 Sines's confrontation clause claim is similarly without merit. The Supreme Court has identified the major purposes of the confrontation clause as: (1) ensuring that witnesses will testify under oath; (2) forcing witnesses to undergo cross-examination; and (3) permitting the jury to observe the demeanor of witnesses. California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 158, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1935, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970); accord, Mancusi v. Stubbs, 408 U.S. 204, 213, 92 S.Ct. 2308, 2313, 33 L.Ed.2d 293 (1972). All three of these purposes were fulfilled when Steneman's videotaped deposition was taken with Sines's attorney present. See United States v. King, 552 F.2d at 842 (focusing upon ability of defense counsel to investigate case, as opposed to defendants). 38 Sines also argues that Steneman's testimony lacks the indicia of reliability required by the confrontation clause, because Steneman was a confessed liar and was serving his own interests by testifying against Sines. However, courts are not expected to determine whether testimony bears sufficient indicia of reliability based upon their perceptions of the inherent reliability or unreliability of the deponent, but instead must make this determination based upon such guarantees of trustworthiness as the opportunity of the defendant's counsel to cross-examine, the administering of an oath to the deponent, and the jury's opportunity to observe his demeanor. See Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 73, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2542, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980); United States v. Johnson, 735 F.2d at 1203 (deposition bore sufficient indicia of reliability [s]ince [defendant's] counsel had an adequate opportunity to cross-examine [the deponent] and availed himself of that opportunity). 39