Opinion ID: 449643
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: trial conducted on muhammed's sabbath day

Text: 43 Ishmael Muhammed claims that the district court's decision to conduct trial on Fridays violated his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. Muhammed--a Muslim, who observes his Sabbath from sundown on Thursday to sundown on Friday--requested that his trial not be conducted on Fridays. In a memorandum opinion dated October 4, 1983 Judge Pollack denied that request. See United States v. Fisher, 571 F.Supp. 1236 (S.D.N.Y.1983). Muhammed did not appeal this decision, and attended the Friday sessions of his trial. As the trial is complete, reversal of his conviction would not remedy the claimed infringement of defendant's rights and this issue is therefore inappropriately raised on this appeal. 44 The time for Muhammed to have appealed the decision to hold trial on Fridays was immediately after the trial court entered its order. Although, as the Supreme Court recently stated in Flanagan v. United States, 465 U.S. 259, 104 S.Ct. 1051, 79 L.Ed.2d 288 (1984), the collateral order exception to the final judgment rule is very narrow, id. at 1055, that exception would allow an appeal on an issue such as this. For an interlocutory order of a trial court to be reviewable it must satisfy three conditions: it must conclusively determine the disputed question, resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 468, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 2457, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978) (footnote omitted). Judge Pollack's order conclusively determined that trial would be held on the defendant's sabbath. The question of this practice's interference with Muhammed's First Amendment rights was completely separate from the merits of the criminal trial. And, as noted, since there is no relief that this Court may grant upon appeal of Muhammed's criminal conviction that would protect his claimed right not to have the trial that he attended held on Fridays, the matter is effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. See State of New Jersey v. Chesimard, 555 F.2d 63, 78 (3d Cir.1977) (en banc) (Gibbons, J., dissenting) (If the free exercise right in question is lost pendente lite it is lost for all time). Therefore, Muhammed should have taken a collateral appeal from the district court's order of October 4, 1983. There is nothing that we can do now.