Opinion ID: 340081
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Sham Defendant.

Text: 52 Appellants contend that the government's misconduct in indicting Roosevelt Nabors as a sham defendant requires the reversal of their convictions. They contend that the sham nature of the indictment of Nabors, who served as a government informer, is shown by the fact that payments to him continued even after the indictment. Further, he was called to testify before the grand jury about the case in which he was charged after he had been indicted, and defense counsel Milton Henry, who had filed an appearance on behalf of Nabors as well as most of the other defendants, was not notified. Appellants argue that the sham indictment of Nabors violated the fundamental fairness guaranteed by the due process clause, and violated their right to counsel by introducing a government agent into the defense. 53 Nabors testified that when he first began working with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), he was told that his cooperation would be communicated to the court in connection with charges pending against him for attempted murder and the unlawful driving away of an automobile. He also stated that no other promises had been made to him. He stated that while he was working with the BNDD he was paid approximately $1,500 for living expenses. He testified that he was expected to help to set up arrangements so that government special agents could make purchases directly from members of the Jackson organization. He was not authorized by them to make purchases on his own. Nevertheless, he testified that without the knowledge or authorization of the government, he sold $600 worth of heroin that he had received from the Jackson organization on consignment. He said that when he was arrested, he was told that he was being prosecuted because of this independent transaction. 54 Agent Garibotto testified that during a review of tape recordings of the intercepted communications after the December 15 arrests at Hubbell Street, government agents discovered that, without government authority, Nabors had called and arranged to pick up at least one quantity of heroin, and that he had sold it. Garibotto testified that Nabors was indicted in good faith for this unauthorized part in the conspiracy. Although he had been severed from the other defendants before trial, Garibotto testified that the government retained the right to try him separately, and that at the time of the trial of the other defendants, no final decision had been made whether he would be brought to trial or not. He said that he planned to make no recommendations one way or the other. He stated that he had authorized a payment to Nabors after his testimony before the grand jury so that Nabors could stay out of sight in a motel. He said that after the indictment he had not used Nabors again as an informant, but he believed that others in the BNDD might have done so. 55 Although appellants claim that Nabors was indicted in order to penetrate the defense and learn its tactics, they have presented little evidence that Nabors was involved in appellants' common defense. Although Attorney Milton Henry filed an appearance on behalf of Nabors as he did for all the other defendants, the court's records demonstrate that counsel was also assigned for Nabors on January 25, before he was called before the grand jury. Moreover, on the government's motion, Nabors' trial was severed from that of the other defendants on the ground that the government expected to call him as a witness. Nabors testified that when he was arrested, he did not meet all of the other defendants, talk to them, or know their names. He did recall that he spoke briefly to only one of the appellants, Kilpatrick. 56 We do not think that the record shows any government misconduct. Appellants have not sustained their burden of showing that Nabors, who was severed for trial, and for whom the district court appointed separate counsel shortly after his arrest, actually intruded into the attorney-client relationship between appellants and their counsel. 57