Opinion ID: 698644
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Robert Hardy

Text: 124 Hardy objects to the district court's denial of his request to introduce expert testimony at trial that he was functionally mentally retarded. As we detail below, although Hardy handled a significant amount of drugs and money for the conspiracy, one might draw significantly different inferences about Hardy's state of mind from these activities depending on the degree of Hardy's mental acuity. We believe the proffered evidence of mental retardation was thus potentially material as to whether Hardy entertained the specific intent to further the purposes of the conspiracy, and we accordingly hold that the district court erred in categorically barring such evidence. 125 Hardy's Role in the Conspiracy. Taken in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence at trial demonstrated that Hardy was a frequent companion of the various co-conspirators, particularly Tony Lewis. Two co-conspirators testified about activities Hardy engaged in on behalf of the conspiracy. James Minor testified that on at least four occasions, Hardy helped him and Dave McCraw transport suitcases or athletic bags containing cocaine within the Bates Street area. On these occasions, Minor and McCraw brought drugs from Crystal City, Virginia, to Bates Street. At Bates Street, McCraw and Minor picked up Hardy on the corner--sometimes after going inside to receive instructions from Tony Lewis--and drove him to a house six or seven blocks away, at which point Hardy carried the container inside and came back out to be driven back to Bates Street. Minor testified that there was general conversation when he was in the car with McCraw and Hardy, but did not detail it. VII J.A., 3/8/90 Tr. at 128. Rae Zanville provided the other testimony of Hardy's activity in the conspiracy, describing an occasion when she picked up money to transport from Tony Lewis's apartment. She testified that there were several million dollars at Lewis's apartment and that Rayful Edmond III and Hardy put some of that money into her suitcases. 126 The Psychological Report. Prior to trial, Hardy was examined by a consulting psychologist. This psychologist found Hardy legally competent, but effectively retarded. He reported his belie[f] that Hardy could assist [his lawyer] sufficiently, and sufficiently be helped to understand the court system, so as to be competent to stand trial, but also found that Hardy's 127 behavior and limitations certainly restrict to some degree the completeness or elegance of defense that he can be provided. This is, after all, a man who can not read words such as animal or himself, who cannot accurately report the direction of the sun's rising, or the general use of a thermometer, and who could not define the words fabric, enormous, or conceal. 128 Letter from Lanning E. Moldauer to Joseph Virgilio 2 (Jan. 16, 1990), reprinted in II J.A. at 115. With respect to Hardy's mental capacity, the psychologist reported: 129 I ... found Mr. Hardy to be functioning just above the mentally retarded range of intelligence (his Full-Scale I.Q. was 71, two points above the strictest criterion for mental retardation). From a clinical standpoint, however, considering his functional illiteracy (below third grade reading level) and his poor social judgment and ability to cope, one could judge him as effectively retarded. 130 Id. at 1, reprinted in II J.A. at 114. 131 Motion to Present Opinion Testimony. Prior to trial, Hardy moved to introduce expert testimony on the issue of whether Hardy, at the relevant times, had a mental state, including intelligence, consistent with and required for the offense charged, as well as the elements, overt act(s), and conduct alleged. Hardy's Motion for Leave to Late-File Attached Rule 12.2(b) Notice 2 (Jan. 30, 1990), reprinted in II J.A. at 88 (First Expert Motion). The district court understood the motion as one to introduce expert testimony on the issue of intent and denied Hardy's request on the ground that such testimony is irrelevant and, therefore, inadmissible as defendant is only charged with a general intent crime in this case. United States v. Hardy, 730 F.Supp. 1141, 1142 (D.D.C.1990). The court reasoned that although testimony on abnormal mental condition ... may be relevant to negative, or establish the specific mental condition that is an element of the crime, when a defendant is charged with a general intent crime, as is the case here, evidence concerning a defendant's mental condition becomes irrelevant and confusing to a jury. Id. at 1143 (internal quotations omitted). Hardy subsequently renewed his motion, asserting that the testimony was relevant to whether he did, in fact, commit the acts ascribed to him as well as to the issue of specific intent. The district court rejected both grounds. It confirmed its earlier position that a defendant's mental condition may be relevant to negate the mens rea element of the government's case in chief, when the defendant is charged with a specific intent crime.... [But] the diminished capacity argument does not apply where, as here, the defendant is charged with a general intent crime. United States v. Hardy, No. Cr. 89-0162-14, Order at 2 (D.D.C. Mar. 7, 1990), reprinted in II J.A. at 121. The district court also rejected Hardy's separate argument that the evidence was relevant to whether he had, in fact, committed the alleged acts, concluding that [d]efense counsel greatly overestimates the sophistication of the acts that the defendant allegedly performed. Id. at 3, reprinted in II J.A. at 122. 132 On appeal, Hardy presses both grounds of admission--that the testimony should have been admitted to negate mens rea and to demonstrate the unlikelihood of Hardy's having carried out the alleged acts. We need only address his claim that the evidence would be relevant to his mens rea. 12 133 Admissibility of Mental Capacity Evidence in a Specific Intent Crime. In United States v. Brawner, 471 F.2d 969, 1002 (D.C.Cir.1972), this court held that expert testimony about an abnormal mental condition is admissible when a specific intent crime is charged if it is relevant to negate, or establish, the specific mental condition that is an element of the crime. 134 In the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 17, 4241 et seq. (1988 & Supp. IV 1992), Congress established the test for an insanity defense and further provided that [m]ental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 17(a) (1988). At the same time, Congress amended Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) to provide that 135 [n]o expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state or condition of a defendant in a criminal case may state an opinion or inference as to whether the defendant did or did not have the mental state or condition constituting an element of the crime charged or a defense thereto. Such ultimate issues are matters for the trier of fact alone. 136 Several courts have held that the admissibility of mental condition evidence survives the enactment of the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 where (a) the evidence is admitted not as an affirmative defense to excuse the defendant from responsibility for his acts, but to negate specific intent when that is an element of the charged act itself, see United States v. Cameron, 907 F.2d 1051, 1060 (11th Cir.1990); United States v. Pohlot, 827 F.2d 889, 906 (3d Cir.1987); United States v. Twine, 853 F.2d 676, 679 (9th Cir.1988), and (b) the expert limits his testimony to his  'diagnoses, the facts upon which those diagnoses are based, and the characteristics of any mental diseases or defect the experts believe the defendant possessed during the relevant time period,'  staying clear of  'directly or indirectly opining on the [ultimate] issue of specific intent,'  United States v. Gold, 661 F.Supp. 1127, 1131 (D.D.C.1987) (quoting United States v. Frisbee, 623 F.Supp. 1217, 1223 (N.D.Cal.1985)); cf. Haas v. Abrahamson, 910 F.2d 384, 397 (7th Cir.1990) (Rule 704(b) exclude[s] psychiatric/psychological opinion testimony on the question of whether a defendant had the capacity to form the requisite intent constituting an element of the charged offense while allowing relevant expert testimony detailing the defendant's mental health history which might have tendency to negate the prosecution's proof on the issue of intent.). The government does not contend otherwise. 137 If evidence is potentially admissible as relevant to specific intent, it remains for the district court to determine whether the testimony is grounded in sufficient scientific support to warrant use in the courtroom, and whether it would aid the jury in reaching a decision on the ultimate issues. Brawner, 471 F.2d at 1002. This determination is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Nelson, 5 F.3d 254, 256 (7th Cir.1993); Cameron, 907 F.2d at 1061. 138 Based on the record before us, we think there is a real possibility that the evidence proffered would properly be admitted. As we concluded above, the charged conspiracy is a specific intent crime. See supra part III. According to the district court's own instructions, the jury could find Hardy guilty only if it concluded that he came to a mutual understanding [with his co-conspirators] to accomplish an unlawful purpose or a lawful purpose by unlawful means, XIV J.A., 3/30/90 Tr. at 61-62, and that with an understanding of the unlawful character of the conspiracy, [he] knowingly encourage[d], advise[d] or assist[ed] in furthering the purpose of the conspiracy, id. The fact of Hardy's effective mental retardation might well have assisted the jury to determine whether Hardy entertained this conspiratorial understanding and purpose. Cf. Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 322, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 2949, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989) (mental retardation is relevant to the question of whether [the defendant] was capable of acting 'deliberately' ) (dictum). In particular, the evidence might help the jury to assess whether, or to what degree, it could infer the requisite specific intent from Hardy's commission of the charged acts. As detailed above, the strongest evidence implicating Hardy in the conspiracy was that he assisted in delivering bags containing drugs from Bates Street to another house six or seven blocks away on several occasions. While these acts would normally support an inference that he had the specific intent to further the object of the conspiracy, his alleged mental retardation could well limit the viability of this inference. 139 Conceding that if the charged conspiracy is a specific intent crime, a defendant may submit relevant evidence in an attempt to negate this element, Government's Brief at 131, the government nevertheless argues that the evidence was properly excluded in this case for three reasons. At the outset, we note that each of these arguments is directed to the exercise of the district court's discretion in excluding mental capacity evidence. That discretion, of course, was never exercised here; once it concluded that the evidence was categorically barred because the charged conspiracy required only general intent, the district court never went on to determine whether the testimony is grounded in sufficient scientific support to warrant use in the courtroom, and whether it would aid the jury in reaching a decision on the ultimate issues. Brawner, 471 F.2d at 1002. As none of the objections raised by the government precludes the use of the testimony, we remand the issue to the district court so that it may have the opportunity to exercise its discretion in line with our discussion below. 140 The government first argues that the psychologist's report had little, if any, probative value, because it does not describe a mental condition severe enough to prevent Hardy from being capable of forming criminal intent. Government's Brief at 133. We are persuaded, however, that Hardy has presented evidence of mental incapacity severe enough that it might well be highly relevant to Hardy's capacity to entertain, and whether he did in fact entertain, specific intent to further the purposes of the conspiracy. This is, after all, a man who can not read words such as 'animal' or 'himself,' who cannot accurately report the direction of the sun's rising, or the general use of a thermometer, and who could not define the words 'fabric,' 'enormous,' or 'conceal.'  Although the district court can only make a final determination about the probity of the evidence after further inquiry and voir dire of the expert, Hardy has come forward with enough evidence to warrant this inquiry. 141 Second, the government argues that the evidence proffered by Hardy does not sufficiently focus on Hardy's state of mind or capabilities at the time of the offense because it points to events in his childhood to explain Hardy's effective retardation. Several courts have suggested that the use of evidence to show that a defendant lacks the capacity to form mens rea is inappropriate, while the use of evidence of mental disease to show that a defendant actually lacked mens rea at the time the crime was committed is appropriate. Pohlot, 827 F.2d at 905; see also Haas, 910 F.2d at 397. Upon analysis of these cases, however, we find no general bar to evidence of a defendant's general lack of capacity or the history of his condition, so long as that evidence is adequately keyed to the issue of whether he entertained the mens rea required for proof of the crime. 142 The concern underlying these cases appears to be to preserve the barrier between mens rea testimony and diminished responsibility testimony. Courts typically allow testimony directly about whether the defendant entertained the requisite intent at the time of the crime--testimony, for instance, that the defendant genuinely but delusionally believed he was acting in self-defense when he killed someone. They are reluctant, however, to allow more general testimony about the defendant's mental condition where it is divorced from the intent elements of the crime and slide[s] into wider usage that opens up the jury to theories of defense more akin to justification. Pohlot, 827 F.2d at 905. As examples of this potential slippage, the Pohlot court noted cases such as People v. Wolff, 61 Cal.2d 795, 40 Cal.Rptr. 271, 394 P.2d 959 (1964), in which the defendant had carefully planned and executed a series of murders and rapes, but the court nevertheless concluded that he lacked the requisite intent for first degree murder because his mental abnormality prevented him from realizing 'the enormity of the evil.'  827 F.2d at 905. In this way, the Pohlot court noted, the court made mental illness that did not directly correlate to any particular element of mens rea a ground for reducing the severity of an offense. Id. 143 We share the concern that evidence of general mental capacity not be used to persuade a jury that a defendant is not responsible for his deliberate and purposeful activity--this usage exceeds the bounds of mens rea evidence. The distinction between evidence of a defendant's general ability to form a certain intent and evidence of his intent at the time of the crime, however, is not particularly helpful: Both types of evidence may be relevant to the jury's consideration of whether the government proved that the defendant entertained the requisite intent. Thus, [t]he proper focus [is] on the proffered link or relationship between the specific psychiatric evidence offered and the mens rea at issue in the case. Cameron, 907 F.2d at 1067 n. 31. Indeed, even the Seventh Circuit, which has been particularly vigilant in rejecting testimony on the question of whether a defendant has the capacity to form the requisite intent, has not suggested that this bar on general capacity testimony prevents the admission of evidence about the history and development of a defendant's mental condition. To the contrary, it has concluded that relevant expert testimony detailing the defendant's mental health history which might have a tendency to negate the prosecution's proof on the issue of intent is admissible. Haas, 910 F.2d at 397; accord Nelson, 5 F.3d at 256. 144 In sum, concerns about whether the evidence is relevant to negate specific intent as opposed to present[ing] a dangerously confusing theory of defense more akin to justification and excuse are best addressed through the district court's assessment of the reliability and probity of the evidence and its careful administration of that evidence, Brawner, 471 F.2d at 1002, rather than through a categorical bar on evidence regarding general mental capacity. In this case, we think it sufficiently likely that evidence about Hardy's general mental capacity and history would be relevant to his actual state of mind in committing the charged acts to warrant further consideration by the district court. In the event that the district court chooses to admit the evidence, it can ensure that the testimony is closely tailored to the question at issue. See Gold, 661 F.Supp. at 1131. 145 Finally, the government argues that the proffered evidence is, in fact, of the diminished responsibility variant. By asserting a lack of intelligence, the government claims, Hardy really seeks to be excused from his criminal activity. Although Hardy may not have been the brightest of the Edmond crew, his low intelligence did not make his activity any less purposeful. Government's Brief at 135. As we have indicated above, the evidence might well, in fact, be helpful to a jury in determining whether Hardy's action was purposeful in the sense of evincing a specific intent to conspire, and this potential probity is precisely the question to which the district court must address itself. While Hardy's mental capacity does not excuse him from culpability for his activity--possessing and distributing drugs--it may well be relevant to whether the government proved an element of the conspiracy charge--that in committing such acts Hardy entertained the specific intent to further the purposes of the conspiracy--and thus to whether Hardy conspired to possess and distribute drugs. 146 We therefore remand Hardy's case to the district court so that the district court may determine whether the proffered evidence is grounded in sufficient scientific support to warrant use in the courtroom, and whether it would aid the jury in reaching a decision on the ultimate issues. Brawner, 471 F.2d at 1002. If the district court concludes that the evidence is properly admissible, it must vacate Hardy's conviction and grant him a new trial. If it determines that the initial exclusion of the evidence was correct because the evidence is irrelevant or unreliable, then Hardy's conviction may stand. 13 B. Rachelle Edmond 147 One of Rachelle Edmond's witnesses, Juanita Radden, testified on direct examination that she had stayed at Edmond's home and that a burglar alarm had gone off while she was there. On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Radden if Edmond had ever told her that the reason that they put that alarm system in is because they were robbed of approximately $200,000 in cash? XI J.A., 3/23/90 Tr. at 240. Counsel for Edmond immediately objected. On being directed by the district court to answer the question, the witness said no. Id. Edmond's counsel thereupon moved for a mistrial on the ground that the question was premised on a fact not in evidence. The court effectively ordered the prosecutor not to ask it again unless he was able to produce evidence that Edmond's home had in fact suffered a $200,000 burglary. The court also denied Edmond's motion for a mistrial. Later, Edmond's counsel renewed the motion, and the court again denied it. The court reminded the jury, however, that counsel's questions did not constitute evidence; and it instructed the jurors that they were to disregard the prosecutor's question regarding a burglary. 148 [T]he single most important factor in [determining whether an improper question should result in a mistrial] is the extent to which the defendant has been prejudiced. Tarantino, 846 F.2d at 1413. We review a district court's denial of a motion for a mistrial only for an abuse of discretion. Id. Even granting the impropriety of the prosecutor's question, it was not so prejudicial that we must find that the court abused its discretion in denying the motion for a mistrial. Edmond's motion was based on a single question that had been answered in the negative, and it had been cabined by an immediate jury instruction. Moreover, as noted above, there was ample evidence to support Edmond's conviction. We have observed that [n]ot every improper question or even answer is enough to void a trial. United States v. Smith, 891 F.2d 935, 939 (D.C.Cir.1989). Here, as in Smith, the denial of a mistrial ... does not even approach an abuse of [ ] discretion. Id. C. Willie Childress
149 During the Group II trial, cooperating witness James Minor testified that in a Virginia hotel in August 1988 he received a 50-kilogram delivery of cocaine from an older man from California wearing glasses--a man who other government evidence suggested was appellant Childress. To rebut this testimony, Childress asked the district court for Criminal Justice Act (CJA) funds to call Dr. Wong, a California optometrist. Dr. Wong would evidently have testified that when he examined Childress's vision in 1989, his medical history card did not list a previous prescription for him; this might indicate that he did not wear prescription glasses at the time of the 50-kilogram transaction. Appellant told the court that Dr. Wong's fee for travel and testimony time would be $200 per hour, to which the court responded that CJA regulations required special approval of the chief judge of the district court for expert fees over $1,000. Although the court expressed skepticism about the need for such testimony, it nevertheless agreed to consider the motion. 150 The next day Childress withdrew his request. His counsel suggested that he would instead look for a local optometrist who could testify about Childress's prescription record. Five days later and two hours before he was to present his case to the jury, however, Childress renewed his request for CJA funds for Dr. Wong because he had been unable to find a local optometrist who could testify in person rather than by telephone. The court denied the request, finding it would intolerably delay the proceedings; it also denied Childress's motion for a mistrial and post-conviction motion for a new trial, concluding that he was not prejudiced by the lack of funds for Dr. Wong. Childress, 746 F.Supp. at 1141-42. At trial, Childress did not introduce the prescription record into evidence; instead, his sister testified (and received CJA funds for her testimony) that he wore neither prescription glasses nor sunglasses in August 1988; and he introduced his driver's license, which listed no vision restrictions. 151 Childress again argues that he was wrongly denied the CJA funds for Dr. Wong and that he was prejudiced by the denial. We reject these arguments. A district court deciding whether to authorize CJA funds for medical experts must determine whether the service is necessary to the preparation and presentation of an adequate defense, United States v. Chavis, 476 F.2d 1137, 1141 (D.C.Cir.1973) (emphasis in original); see also United States v. Anderson, 39 F.3d at 343. We review this determination of necessity for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Nichols, 21 F.3d 1016, 1017 (10th Cir.1994); United States v. Castro, 15 F.3d 417, 421 (5th Cir.1994); United States v. Becerra, 992 F.2d 960, 965 (9th Cir.1993). The district court here did not abuse its discretion by determining that Dr. Wong's services were not sufficiently necessary to the defense to justify spending thousands of dollars and calling the entire trial to a halt. Given that Childress would introduce his driver's license and his sister's testimony, the incremental value of Dr. Wong's testimony was slight: The blank on the prescription record could not establish conclusively that Childress had never worn prescription glasses and could say nothing about whether he ever wore non-prescription glasses, which would have been entirely consistent with Minor's testimony and the government's theory that Childress was the courier he had met. 152 Furthermore, we do not believe that Childress was prejudiced as a result of the denial of the CJA funds. Childress argues that he was forced by the denial of funds to introduce his driver's license to show that he had no visual impairment. The prosecution then used the license as a writing exemplar to prove that Childress signed the receipts for the hotel room where the 50-kilogram deal took place; thus, Childress claims, he was forced to provide crucial evidence for the prosecution and was thereby prejudiced. But there was no logical, one-to-one correspondence between the denial of funds for Dr. Wong and Childress's decision to introduce the license. Even if Wong had been able to testify, Childress might well have introduced the license to bolster his claim that he did not wear glasses; as we have said, the value of Dr. Wong's testimony about the prescription record would have been slight. And had it occurred to Childress that the license would supply crucial evidence to the prosecution, he might well have chosen not to introduce it, even if Dr. Wong had testified. To the extent that Childress was in a bind, moreover, it was largely of his own making. He withdrew the motion for funds voluntarily, failed to find a local witness, and then reinstated his request two hours before his case was set to start. We will not overturn Childress's conviction on the basis of his tactical choices.
153 Childress raises one challenge unique to his sentence. A Drug Enforcement Agency agent testified at his sentencing that in November 1988 Childress was stopped in Missouri for speeding and that the van he was driving was found to contain over 500 kilograms of cocaine. The agent also testified that this was the second largest inland seizure of cocaine in DEA history. Childress was convicted by a Missouri court of narcotics transportation in June 1989, but he had not yet been sentenced for this offense by the time of his September 1990 sentencing for conspiracy in the present case. The district court here found by a preponderance of evidence that Childress's criminal history category under the Sentencing Guidelines did not adequately reflect the seriousness of his conduct in Missouri; accordingly, it increased that category from I to II under Sec. 4A1.3 of the Guidelines. 154 Childress argues that this increase contravened the explicit language of Sec. 4A1.3. That section of the 1989 version of the Guidelines (the version in place for Childress's sentencing) read, in part, as follows: 155 Sec. 4A1.3. Adequacy of Criminal History Category (Policy Statement) 156 If reliable information indicates that the criminal history category does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the defendant's past criminal conduct ..., the court may consider imposing a sentence departing from the otherwise applicable guideline range. Such information may include, but is not limited to, information concerning: ... 157 (d) whether the defendant was pending trial, sentencing, or appeal on another charge at the time of the instant offense. 14 158 Childress argues that his instant offense was the conduct for which he is deemed to have participated in the Edmond conspiracy--that is, his 50-kilogram cocaine sale in August 1988. He notes that both his arrest and his conviction in Missouri took place after this date; hence, he argues, they could not be pending ... at the time of the instant offense. 159 Childress's argument, however, neglects the fact that he was being sentenced for conspiracy, not simply for the possession or distribution of the cocaine involved in his 50-kilogram delivery. Conspiracy is an ongoing offense that lasts, absent one's affirmative withdrawal from the enterprise, as long as any co-conspirator continues to further common ends; because he does not claim he affirmatively withdrew from the conspiracy, Childress is criminally responsible--as noted above in part IV--for all of his compatriots' foreseeable conduct in furtherance of those goals. Thus, Childress's instant offense for purposes of Sec. 4A1.3(d) lasted until the Edmond enterprise ceased operations, an event the district court placed in April 1989. See Edmond, 746 F.Supp. at 203 n. 3. At that point, Childress was pending trial for his actions in Missouri, and the district court could properly consider those actions under Sec. 4A1.3(d). Furthermore, because the court did not clearly err in its factfinding and the extent of its departure was reasonable under the Guidelines as they then stood, 15 we uphold the increase in Childress's criminal history category. Cf. United States v. Fadayini, 28 F.3d 1236, 1241-42 (D.C.Cir.1994). D. Columbus Daniels 1. Counsel of choice 160 Appellant Columbus Daniels asks that his murder and conspiracy convictions be set aside because he was denied his right to his counsel of choice in each of his two trials. See Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 159, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 1697, 100 L.Ed.2d 140 (1988) (Sixth Amendment right to counsel includes the right to select and be represented by one's preferred attorney....). The Supreme Court has made it clear, however, that the right to counsel of choice is qualified in several important respects. For example, a defendant may not insist on representation by an attorney he cannot afford or who for other reasons declines to represent the defendant. Id. Similarly, the presumption in favor of [a defendant's] counsel of choice ... may be overcome not only by a demonstration of [the attorney's] actual conflict [of interest] but by a showing of a serious potential for conflict. Id. at 164, 108 S.Ct. at 1700. 161 By way of background, on August 8, 1988, Daniels was charged with murder in the District of Columbia Superior Court and retained R. Kenneth Mundy to represent him. Nine months later, Daniels was indicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for the same murder and for membership in an alleged drug conspiracy. The D.C. murder charge was then joined with the federal charges. When a tentative date had been set for the trial of these charges, Mundy moved for a continuance and, on June 22, 1989, sent the district court two letters. In the first of these, he advised the court that his prepaid vacation conflicted with the proposed trial date, that he had been paid only a portion of his fee for his services, and that his requested fee had been set with only a homicide trial in mind whereas he now found himself stuck with a conspiracy trial that was vastly more complicated than the one he had originally undertaken. Mundy's second letter, which was written on behalf of his partner, Robert Mance, informed the court that Mance had not received his fee for representing a co-defendant, Emanuel Sutton. 162 The district court responded with an order which, among other things, directed Magistrate Judge Attridge to determine whether the participation in the trial of both Mundy and Mance posed a potential conflict of interest and whether one or both of them should remain in the case. The magistrate judge took note of the complex nature of the conspiracy and the large number of defendants in the case. He concluded that no one could fully anticipate what problems might develop as the government presented its case and as the defense attorneys for the 27 other defendants proceeded with their cross-examinations. Accordingly, he decided that he could not find that a conflict of interest would be unlikely to arise. He also concluded that although the two defendants had voluntarily waived their rights to conflict-free counsel, these waivers were not fully informed and, as a consequence, were ineffectual. He therefore recommended that both Mance and Mundy be disqualified from the case. The district court adopted that recommendation and subsequently appointed Arthur Levin to represent Daniels. 163 The court later divided the counts of the indictment into three groups, each to be the subject of a separate trial. As a result, the counts under which Sutton was indicted were assigned to Group I, while Daniels' counts (which included a firearms violation charge in addition to the conspiracy and murder charges) were divided between the other two. Levin represented Daniels in his Group II conspiracy trial and in his Group III murder and firearms violation trial. 164 As mentioned above, Daniels argues that the court improperly denied him his counsel of choice in both trials. In the alternative, he contends that, even if the court did not err when it first removed Mundy, it committed reversible error when it denied his subsequent request to be represented by Mundy in the separate murder trial. 165
166 Although Daniels challenges the court's decision to disqualify Mundy from representing him in the conspiracy trial, he recognizes that its decision to reject his waiver of the right to conflict-free counsel is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See Wheat, 486 U.S. at 164, 108 S.Ct. at 1700. Because the Supreme Court has made it clear that the presumption in favor of a defendant's counsel of choice may be overcome ... by a showing of a serious potential for conflict, id., and because a conflict between Sutton and Daniels could have developed during the evolution of the government's conspiracy case, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it disqualified Mundy. 167
168 After the conspiracy trial ended in a conviction for Daniels, Levin informed the court three weeks prior to the date proposed for the murder trial that Daniels wanted Mundy to defend him in the Group III proceeding. The court denied Daniels' motion on the ground that the issue of Mundy's capacity to represent Daniels had already been decided. In response, Levin argued that although Mundy might have had a potential conflict in the conspiracy trial, that possibility was not present in the impending murder trial. Unpersuaded, the district court denied the motion. A week later, Daniels reiterated his argument, and the court again rejected it. 169 On June 6, 1990, the court granted Rayful Edmond's motion to sever his murder trial from that of Daniels and ruled that Edmond's trial would commence after Daniels' trial. Daniels was tried alone for murder and for carrying a pistol without a license and was convicted as charged on June 21, 1990. On appeal, Daniels argues that even if the district court did not err when it initially disqualified Mundy, it did so when it refused to reconsider Mundy's ability to represent him in the murder trial. 170 In response, the government first contends that even after the conclusion of the Group II trial, a potential for conflict continued to exist in the Group III trial because the homicide charge was related to the complex drug conspiracy. We are unable to discern how Mundy's representation of Daniels in the Group III trial could have presented a serious potential for conflict. There were only four defendants in the Group III proceedings, and the issues involving Daniels were well-defined. The government's murder case would not have required the kind of sweeping inquiry that was necessary to prove the conspiracy charges. 171 The government argues, in the alternative, that because Daniels moved for new counsel a month after a Group III trial date had been set and only three weeks before that trial was to take place, Daniels' request to be represented by Mundy constituted a last-minute request and, therefore, was properly denied as untimely. We have declared that a defendant's right to counsel must be weighed against the public's interest in the orderly administration of justice. United States v. Rettaliata, 833 F.2d 361, 362 (D.C.Cir.1987). We believe, however, that the government exaggerates matters when it asserts that Daniels waited until the last minute and that his motion would have unduly disrupted matters in the district court. His motion to be represented by Mundy was made at the first Group III pre-trial hearing. The cases on which the government relies all involved a far shorter period of time between the initial request for substitute counsel and the scheduled trial date. See, e.g., United States v. Poston, 902 F.2d 90, 96-97 (D.C.Cir.1990) (district court did not abuse discretion when it refused motion for continuance the day before trial to allow new counsel appointed at defendant's request to prepare more thoroughly); United States v. Richardson, 894 F.2d 492, 496-97 (1st Cir.1990) (defendant asked to substitute counsel for the first time on the morning of trial). 172 Finally, noting that Mundy's June 22, 1989, letters cited other problems with his representation of Daniels, the government argues that the record does not indicate that Mundy would have been willing and able to represent Daniels in his Group III murder trial. Indeed, not only had Mundy complained, in June 1989, that Daniels had paid him only a portion of the fee set for the defense of the murder charge, but later, after Mundy had been removed from the case, Daniels sought and obtained court-appointed counsel on the claim that he had become indigent. Levin (who also represents Daniels in this appeal) replies that Mundy was willing to reenter the case and that this fact was communicated to the district court in a status hearing for which the reporter's notes have been lost. Although we are confident that Levin's statement was made in good faith, the gap in the record created by the loss of the reporter's notes leaves us without an adequate basis for determining whether and on what terms Mundy would have reentered the case in May 1990. Having concluded that a serious potential for a conflict of interest no longer existed and that enough time remained before the scheduled trial date to accommodate Daniels' request, we remand the matter to the district court for an inquiry into whether Mundy would have been willing and able to reenter the case in May 1990. 173 If, after a hearing, the district court concludes that Mundy would have reentered the case on financial terms that Daniels could have met, the district court must vacate his murder and firearms convictions. Mundy's death during the pendency of this appeal does not moot this issue because the deprivation of his counsel of choice would entitle Daniels to a reversal of his conviction as a matter of constitutional right. See United States v. Panzardi Alvarez, 816 F.2d 813, 818 (1st Cir.1987) (The right to choose one's counsel is an end in itself; its deprivation cannot be harmless). Mundy's death does not deprive the district court of its power to grant Daniels the relief to which he would be entitled. Should the government elect to retry Daniels on these charges, Daniels must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to retain new counsel of choice with his own resources and be provided with court-appointed counsel if he proves unable to do so. 174 If, on remand, the district court concludes that Mundy would not have reentered the case on terms that Daniels could have met, we hold that Daniels was not denied counsel of choice and that his murder and firearms convictions must stand. Although the Sixth Amendment affords Daniels the right to be represented by a retained attorney absent a sufficient justification for removing that attorney, he has no constitutional right to appointed counsel of choice. See Wheat, 486 U.S. at 159, 108 S.Ct. at 1697. 175 We recognize that the district court's inquiry will be complicated immeasurably by Mundy's death. We ask only that the district court examine the available evidence to determine whether and on what terms Mundy would have represented Daniels in the 1990 murder trial. We caution the court that Daniels should not be asked to bear the burden of producing a deceased witness. We note, finally, that even if the murder and firearms convictions are vacated on remand, the concurrent sentence for the conspiracy conviction will be unaffected. 2. Sentencing 176 Daniels also challenges the district court's upward departure from the guideline range when sentencing him on the conspiracy conviction. We believe that the court quite properly concluded that the guideline range did not reflect the seriousness of Daniels' crime in light of his role as an enforcer and executioner for the conspiracy. Moreover, the two-level enhancement imposed by the court falls well within the bounds of reasonableness. Cf. United States v. Goines, 988 F.2d 750, 778 (7th Cir.1993) (affirming two-level upward departure based in part on defendant's incitement of co-conspirators' acts of violence).