Opinion ID: 275773
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alleged Intrusion upon Right to Counsel

Text: 8 In the direct appeals it was claimed that the Government intruded upon the defendants' right to counsel by placing an informer, named Partin, in their midst. This claim was adjudged to be without merit. United States v. Hoffa, supra. 9 In the present appeals, the alleged intrusion was claimed to be by a Nashville policeman named Vick, whose testimony resulted in the disbarment of Hoffa's attorney, Osborn, and also his conviction for jury tampering. The Government submitted evidence to the effect that it had not illegally placed Vick in the defense camp and had only accepted information volunteered by him relating to illegal activities. 10 But long before Appellant's jury tampering trial commenced, namely in August, 1963, Hoffa's attorney, Osborn, learned that Vick had been talking with Sheridan, a special consultant to the Department of Justice. Osborn knew later in November, 1963, that Vick had informed on him to the Government and had given affidavits and a tape recording disclosing his jury tampering activities. Osborn heard the tape recording at his disbarment hearing on November 19, 1963. Osborn had been cited to appear in the District Court to answer disbarment charges based on Vick's evidence, and was disbarred on November 20, 1963. 11 Appellants' trial did not commence until January 20, 1964. By that time Appellants well knew that Vick had informed on Osborn and had given evidence against him. If they desired to make a point of Vick's alleged intrusion, they had ample opportunity to do so at their trial, and should not have waited until eights months thereafter. 12 The activities of Vick appear more fully in United States v. Osborn, 350 F.2d 497 (6th Cir. 1965), in which Osborn's judgment of conviction for jury tampering was affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and affirmed, 385 U.S. 323, 87 S.Ct. 429, 17 L.Ed.2d 394 (1966), rehearing denied 386 U.S. 938, 87 S.Ct. 951, 17 L.Ed.2d 813 (February 20, 1967). 13 By no stretch of the imagination can Vick's acting as an informer be classified as newly discovered evidence. If the Appellants were actually unaware of the full extent of Vick's informing activities, such lack of knowledge can only be attributed to their failure to exercise due diligence to obtain and present the information. It is too late to do so now. Mesarosh v. United States, 352 U.S. 1, 9, 77 S.Ct. 1, 1 L.Ed.2d 1 (1956); United States v. West, 170 F.Supp. 200 (N.D. Ohio 1959) aff'd 274 F.2d 885 (6th Cir. 1960) cert. denied 365 U.S. 811, 819, 81 S.Ct. 688, 5 L.Ed.2d 691. 14 But disregarding the newly discovered evidence rule and considering the evidence on its merits, it is clear that it all related to historical events which took place prior to the trial. Any interference with the prior relationship between Hoffa and Osborn had ceased when Osborn was disbarred on November 20, 1963. When the trial commenced on January 20, 1964, Hoffa was represented by other counsel. There was no interference with Hoffa's new counsel either prior to or during the course of the trial. 15 The District Court found that at the trial there was no reference to any matters alleged to have been reported by Vick to the Government. 16 The cases on which Appellants rely, namely, Caldwell v. United States,92 U.S.App.D.C. 355, 205 F.2d 879 (1953), and Coplon v. United States, 89 U.S.App.D.C. 103, 191 F.2d 749 (1951), related to interception of telephone consultations between attorney and client before and during the trial (Coplon) and the gaining of free access to defense planning by a Government Agent acting as a defense assistant (Caldwell). It was held that this only 'invalidates the trial at which it occurred.' The evidence was not tainted and could be used on retrial. Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 408. The present case, unlike Caldwell and Coplon, involved no interference with counsel participating in the trial. As the District Court stated: 17 'There was no alleged interference on the part of Vick with any counsel who participated in the trial of the case. A more complete removal of any taint of interference could not be accomplished by granting a new trial.' 18 We agree that no valid purpose could be served by granting a new trial on this ground.