Noble v. Eicher, Misc. No. 64-66.
| Decision Date | 26 July 1944 |
| Docket Number | Misc. No. 64-66. |
| Citation | 143 F.2d 1001 |
| Parties | NOBLE v. EICHER. SANCTUARY v. SAME. ELMHURST v. SAME. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
James J. Laughlin, of Washington, D. C. for petitioners.
O. John Rogge and Joseph W. Burns, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., and Philip R. Miller, Sp. Atty. Department of Justice, for respondent.
Before GRONER, Chief Justice, and STEPHENS and EDGERTON, Associate Justices.
These cases involve petitions for writs of prohibition directed to the respondent Edward C. Eicher as judge of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia in Criminal Case No. 73086, United States v. McWilliams et al., 54 F.Supp. 791. Each petitioner alleges that the respondent has ordered him to be represented by a lawyer in the criminal trial who also represents an additional defendant, and that there is a conflict of interest between the two defendants. Each petitioner alleges further that he has not been permitted to have counsel of his own choice. Each petitioner asks that the criminal trial be suspended as to him, or suspended generally, and that relief be otherwise afforded to him. The petitioners rely upon Johnson v. Zerbst, 1938, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461, 146 A.L.R. 357, and Glasser v. United States, 1942, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680. In Johnson v. Zerbst the Supreme Court held that the denial by a court of the right guaranteed a defendant in a criminal prosecution by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution to have the assistance of counsel for his defense defeats the jurisdiction of the court to render a judgment of conviction. In Glasser v. United States the Supreme Court held that the constitutional right of the defendant to have the assistance of counsel in a criminal prosecution is denied if the defendant's lawyer is designated by the court to represent also an additional defendant and there is a conflict of interest between the two in respect of the manner of trial of the case. If there is a conflict of interest here, as alleged by the petitioners, the rule of these cases has been transgressed.
It is alleged by the respondent that a severance has been granted as to the petitioner Robert Noble and that he is no longer a party to the present trial, and it is asserted by the respondent that the petition of Noble is therefore moot. If there has been a severance that would seem to be a sufficient reason to deny the petition for the writ of prohibition as to Noble.
The question remains, however, whether writs of prohibition should issue in view of the circumstances here. It appears from the various petitions that the criminal trial has been in progress for some weeks and is likely to continue for some further period, and that there are a large number of defendants in ...
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