Court Opinion

ID: 9467608
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:52:28.157588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:25.952618
License: Public Domain

NELSON, Circuit Judge,
concurring specially:
I concur in the majority opinion. I must add that the facts of this case are unquestionably troubling. The conduct here creates a visceral reaction that this must be some kind of constitutional violation. The trial court’s decision is thus understandable, and I regret that the law requires reversal.
Today’s result must not be read, however, as suggesting that due process stops at the jailhouse door. The government cannot brazenly disregard prisoners’ constitutional rights when preparing a criminal case against an inmate.
It is important to note that the instant appeal involves dismissal of the indictment by the lower court. In my view, defendants’ strongest arguments are those alleging that their isolation wrongfully precluded them from engaging in the activities necessary to prepare an effective defense. Such a due process claim goes to the heart of a defendant’s constitutionally protected right to defend himself at trial. The defendants’ claims would thus be appropriately raised at trial. Our decision today, which reviews only the dismissal of the indictment, does not foreclose defendants from doing so.