Opinion ID: 400903
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sweeney's Counsel

Text: 43 The disqualification of Kennedy presents very different considerations. Sweeney's interest in securing a reversal of the disqualification of Kennedy is less strong, and the interests of the government and the public in sustaining the disqualification are potentially compelling. The outcome of the balancing of these factors, however, is not, at this stage, entirely clear. 44 Sweeney's interest in retaining Kennedy, while weaker than Cunningham's interest in retaining Tigar, goes beyond the abstract interest of any defendant in protecting his right to be represented by counsel of his own choice. Kennedy has represented Sweeney since mid-1980 and, as counsel to the defendants' law firm, he has had a substantial involvement in many of the events leading to the present indictment. Nevertheless, the disadvantage to Sweeney as a result of the disqualification is reduced considerably by the limited nature of the disqualification. The district court ruled that Kennedy may participate in all aspects of the defense except the actual trial. Further, even as to the trial there is no suggestion that Kennedy may not be present in the courtroom so long as he does not appear as counsel and is not situated at the counsel table. Thus, Sweeney's interest here is a significant one, but it is only his right to have Kennedy appear at trial and be identified as counsel of record that is at issue, not his more significant right to have Kennedy participate in his defense. 45 The government's interest in disqualifying Kennedy, on the other hand, may be particularly strong. Sweeney and Cunningham are charged with having conspired to obstruct the perjury trial of Spain by fabricating the Falco memorandum and then destroying evidence that could have revealed the recent fabrication. McCreery is expected to testify to a conversation between herself and Kennedy in which Kennedy's statements are subject to an interpretation that would readily support the charges against Sweeney and Cunningham. If McCreery's testimony is admitted at trial, it requires no great leap of the imagination to conclude that Kennedy ought to be a rebutting witness, either to deny the conversation, or to provide an innocent explanation for the jury to consider. If Kennedy were to be sworn as a witness it is clear that he should not serve as trial attorney. As Ethical Consideration 5-9 of the American Bar Association Code of Professional Responsibility explains: 46 If a lawyer is both counsel and witness, he becomes more easily impeachable for interest and thus may be a less effective witness. Conversely, the opposing counsel may be handicapped in challenging the credibility of the lawyer when the lawyer also appears as an advocate in the case. An advocate who becomes a witness is in the unseemly and ineffective position of arguing his own credibility. 47 Hence Disciplinary Rule 5-102(A) would require that Kennedy and his firm withdraw as trial counsel. 48 Sweeney seeks to avoid this restriction in part by offering to forgo having Kennedy testify at trial and waiving his right to counsel who could more effectively represent him. Such waivers would not avoid the impropriety foreseen by the drafters of the Disciplinary Rules, however, because if McCreery testifies and Kennedy acts as Sweeney's trial counsel, the effect would be to make Kennedy an unsworn witness. Thus if Kennedy were to cross-examine McCreery, for example, or if in his summation to the jury he were to argue the plausibility of McCreery's testimony or to offer an interpretation of the words attributed to him, he would implicitly be testifying as to his version of the conversation. There may be a perfectly innocent explanation to Kennedy's statement that the envelopes were safe (for example, they were safe from government discovery because Cunningham had destroyed them two days before, as Cunningham would later testify), or it may be that Kennedy did not make the statement at all. But Kennedy cannot suggest one of these possibilities even on commonsense grounds, directly or indirectly, without implicitly testifying as an unsworn witness. Since as an unsworn witness he would not be subject to cross-examination or explicit impeachment, the interest sought to be protected by the Disciplinary Rules would be even more seriously eroded than if Kennedy appeared as a sworn witness. We therefore conclude, in balancing Sweeney's interest in retaining counsel of his own choice against that of the government in disqualifying Kennedy as trial counsel, that the disqualification of Kennedy must stand-assuming that McCreery's testimony is admissible. 49 Sweeney argues that McCreery's testimony as to her conversation with Kennedy will be inadmissible at trial on either of two grounds. First he contends that since Kennedy was acting as attorney for the firm of Sweeney, Cunningham & Krieg, P. C., at the time of the alleged statement, the statement to McCreery, who was a firm employee about to respond further to a subpoena served on the firm, is protected by the attorney-client privilege, and hence, at the instance of a member of the firm, may not be disclosed. Second, Sweeney contends that even if not protected by privilege, the statement of Kennedy as reported by McCreery would be hearsay and thus inadmissible at trial. The district court found both contentions, at first blush, unpersuasive. As to the privilege claim, the court pointed out that the privilege does not extend to statements apparently made in furtherance of a crime. Opinion on Reconsideration at 4. Nonetheless, the court did not find that Kennedy's statement was necessarily so classified, and it stated that Sweeney's suggestions as to why the privilege was available could not be substantiated short of a plenary trial of this Indictment. Id. at 5. As to the hearsay contention, the court felt that the trial judge might reasonably find that Kennedy was an agent or a coconspirator of Sweeney and Cunningham in the obstruction of the Spain trial, thus making Kennedy's testimony admissible as nonhearsay under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(D) or 801(d)(2)(E). Id. at 6 (emphasis in original). But the district court expressly denied that it was presently making such a ruling. 9 Id. Thus, although the admissibility of McCreery's testimony is the underpinning of Kennedy's disqualification, the question of admissibility has not definitely been decided. 50 In the circumstances, we believe that Sweeney's Sixth Amendment right to be represented by counsel of his own choice is too important to be denied on the basis of a mere, though substantial, possibility. If Kennedy is disqualified now and McCreery is not allowed to testify to Kennedy's alleged statement, Sweeney will have lost his constitutional right for no good purpose. We see no reason why a pretrial hearing cannot be held to determine the admissibility of McCreery's testimony, in order that the balancing task of the court may be done on the basis of a complete record and adequate information. 51 Accordingly, we vacate the order of the district court disqualifying Kennedy from representing Sweeney at trial and remand the case for a hearing to determine whether McCreery's testimony will be admissible. If the district court determines that the testimony will be admissible in the government's case-in-chief, it should adhere to its disqualification of Kennedy and his firm as Sweeney's trial counsel. If the court rules that McCreery's testimony would be admissible only in rebuttal of specific arguments that Sweeney might make at trial, Sweeney should be given the opportunity to make an appropriate waiver of his right to present such arguments.