Opinion ID: 369077
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: waymin hines

Text: 185 Hines was convicted of conspiracy (Count 1) and of a substantive count of possession and distribution of heroin (Count 5). He was sentenced to consecutive 15-year terms of imprisonment, fines of $10,000 on each count, and a special parole term of three years. He makes the argument, applicable uniquely to him, that he was deprived of his Sixth Amendment rights to the assistance of counsel and to confront witnesses by: (1) the prosecution's failure to disclose prior to trial its intent to use a former client of Hines' trial counsel as a prosecution witness; (2) the trial court's failure to conduct a hearing into the nature of the conflict between the witness and Hines' counsel, to inform Hines of the problem, or to give Hines an opportunity to express his views; and (3) the trial court's refusal to permit Hines' counsel to seek a waiver of the attorney-client privilege from his former client so as to permit him to cross-examine the witness effectively. He also attacks his conspiracy conviction and the admission of certain evidence. Trial Counsel's Former Client as a Witness 186 Midway through the trial, the Government advised the defense that it would call Jerome L. Christian as a witness. Christian had been represented in a related criminal matter by Hudson Reid, Esq., who was then acting as trial counsel for Hines. The previous representation had involved charges that Christian in 1974 had sold narcotics to DEA agents. 187 The reason given by the Government for not disclosing its intention to call Christian at an earlier date was that, until the night before he testified, there was a substantial probability that Christian would refuse to testify. The prosecutor gave an assurance that (t)here will be absolutely no testimony from Mr. Christian about Waymin Hines in any way only against the defendant Guy Fisher. (Tr. 5611). 188 After an order of immunity had been obtained and a Criminal Justice Act attorney had been appointed, Christian proceeded to testify for 122 pages of the transcript, including direct, cross, redirect and recross. A reading thereof discloses no reference to Hines, directly or indirectly. 189 Reliance upon such recent cases as Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 55 L.Ed.2d 426 (1978); and Salomon v. LaVallee, 575 F.2d 1051 (2d Cir. 1978) is inapposite. These cases involved dual representation with obvious actual or potential conflicts. Even in such situations (which is not the case here), some specific instance of prejudice, some real conflict of interest, resulting from a joint representation must be shown to exist . . . . United States v. Carrigan, 543 F.2d 1053, 1055 (2d Cir. 1976). 190 Counsel for Hines was not precluded from cross-examining Christian. Nor does he point out the field into which he felt he was precluded from entering. It is to be doubted that he would have sought to open up a relationship between his client and Guy Fisher. In the absence of guidance by counsel as to any possible prejudice to Hines, our review of the record discloses none. Conspiracy-Related Claims 191 Hines claims that although one conspiracy was charged in the indictment, several were proved at trial, and that this variance was prejudicial. As noted earlier, there was substantial evidence which enabled the jury to conclude that one conspiracy had been proved. Hines operated three Jaguars registered to Hoby Darling Leasing Corporation during the investigation. Geronimo testified to his observation of Hines' activities with Guy Fisher, including one transaction for a package of white powder outside the Kingdom Garage. This independent evidence, in connection with the evidence of Guy Fisher's role in the Barnes conspiracy, tied Hines into the single Barnes conspiracy. 192 Hines also challenges the admission of two allegedly hearsay statements which Geronimo repeated during his testimony. Angel Brown told Geronimo that she worked for Gary Saunders, who in turn worked for Hines and Guy Fisher and that she received from Saunders up to 3000 heroin quarters a week to sell through her crew of women retailers. Geronimo further testified that he had seen a man named David receive a paper bag from Hines. David then told Geronimo and Fisher that he had just picked up 1500 quarters of heroin from Hines. 193 Geronimo's independent observations of the connections among Hines, Angel Brown, Gary Saunders, and David satisfy the test of United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116, 1120 (2d Cir. 1969), Cert. denied sub nom. Lynch v. United States, 397 U.S. 1028, 90 S.Ct. 1276, 25 L.Ed.2d 539 (1970). Geronimo testified to a transaction involving Guy Fisher, Hines, and Saunders. Later, he saw Saunders give Brown envelopes of white powder. Similar observations justify admission of David's statement. 194 We find Hines' other arguments, including the claim that the hearsay statements were not in furtherance of the conspiracy, to be without merit and we affirm his conviction.