U.S. v. Seybold, 90-2596

Decision Date10 November 1992
Docket NumberNo. 90-2596,90-2596
Citation979 F.2d 582
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John A. SEYBOLD, also known as Richard O'Callaghan, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Lance C. Malina, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Office of U.S. Atty., Crim. Div., Barry R. Elden, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of U.S. Atty., Crim. Receiving, Appellate Div., Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.

Margaret L. Paris, Cotsirilos, Stephenson, Tighe & Streicker, Chicago, Ill. (argued), for defendant-appellant.

Before CUDAHY, COFFEY, and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

On July 27, 1989, John A. Seybold was indicted for federal criminal law violations in connection with his participation in a series of jewel thefts. Mr. Seybold elected to represent himself. Over Mr. Seybold's objection, the district court appointed standby counsel to assist him. On April 17, 1990, Mr. Seybold pleaded guilty to one count in the indictment, which alleged a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). The government then moved to dismiss the remaining counts against Mr. Seybold. After a full hearing, conducted in accordance with Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the district court accepted Mr. Seybold's guilty plea and entered a judgment of conviction. On direct appeal from that judgment, Mr. Seybold challenges his conviction on the ground that his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation was denied by standby counsel's interference in his case. We believe that Mr. Seybold waived his Sixth Amendment claim by pleading guilty and that his plea was both knowing and voluntary. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's judgment of conviction.

I BACKGROUND

A. Facts

In 1987, John A. Seybold was indicted by a federal grand jury on several counts stemming from his involvement with the "Dell Organization" in a series of jewelry thefts. The Dell Organization was allegedly run by Mr. Seybold's ex-wife, Ruth Dell, and included their son and at least three other people. Mr. Seybold pleaded guilty to two counts in the indictment: robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, and interstate transportation of stolen goods. On December 3, 1987, Mr. Seybold was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment and five years' probation.

Two years later, on July 27, 1989, while Mr. Seybold was serving his twelve-year sentence in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, the government filed a second indictment against him and his alleged co-conspirators. Seven of the eighteen counts in the indictment were directed at either subgroups that included Mr. Seybold or named Mr. Seybold alone, including the first two counts: (1) conspiracy to conduct the affairs of the Dell Organization through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of section 1962(d) of RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), and (2) actually conducting the affairs of the Dell Organization through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of section 1962(c) of RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). 1 The principal evidence relied upon by the government was a set of approximately 200 audio tapes ("the tapes"). According to the government, only one-third of the tapes implicated Mr. Seybold.

Mr. Seybold was transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), in Chicago, to facilitate the prosecution. On August Well, as [standby counsel] said to you and as I agree or affirm his position, he said he would be glad to sit by and give me whatever advice I require. There are certain things that I will have to have done that he is willing to do....

                31, 1989, Mr. Seybold was arraigned in federal district court and pleaded not guilty to all charges.   Mr. Seybold made it clear that he wished to proceed pro se.   The court appointed standby counsel despite Mr. Seybold's insistence that he did not want or need any legal assistance.   Nonetheless, on October 6, 1989, Mr. Seybold and his standby counsel appeared at a status hearing, and Mr. Seybold informed the court that they had worked out a cooperative arrangement
                

Tr. of Oct. 6, 1989 at 5. At this hearing, the court also ordered the prosecutor to turn over certain discovery materials, including the tapes, to standby counsel, who was to relay the information to Mr. Seybold. Mr. Seybold objected to this arrangement and asked that the materials be delivered directly to him, but the court insisted the discovery materials be delivered to standby counsel.

Mr. Seybold had difficulty obtaining access to the tapes. By October 24, 1989, the prosecutor had delivered a complete set of tapes to an attorney representing one of Mr. Seybold's co-defendants. This attorney had been designated to act for all the defendants for purposes of channelling discovery material from the prosecutor. At a status hearing on November 29, 1989, Mr. Seybold informed the court that he still had not had access to the tapes. The court suggested to standby counsel that he make arrangements to obtain the tapes from the co-defendants' representative and deliver them to Mr. Seybold. By January 26, 1990, a complete set of transcripts of the tapes had also been delivered to the co-defendants' representative. However, on that day, Mr. Seybold's standby counsel filed a motion on behalf of Mr. Seybold and two of his co-defendants, each of whom was detained at the MCC, stating that the MCC was not allowing counsel to take audiotapes or listening equipment into the MCC. Instead, the MCC required use of its own storage facilities and listening equipment that could be used if the government would deliver tapes to the MCC. The motion requested the court to enter a formal order directing the prosecutor to provide a copy of the tapes directly to the MCC. At a status hearing that day, January 26, 1990, the court declined to enter a formal order, but directed the co-defendants' representative to give the prosecutor all the tapes that the attorneys had finished listening to so that they could be delivered to the MCC.

Another status hearing was held on February 8, 1990. Mr. Seybold was not present, but the court held the hearing in his absence because his standby counsel was present. 2 The court was informed that the co-defendants' representative had given back to the prosecutor a portion of the tapes, and that those tapes were in the process of being transferred to the MCC. Trial was set for April 18, 1990. At a status hearing on March 29, 1990, Mr. Seybold acknowledged access to forty of the tapes but complained that the remainder had not yet been made available to him. On April 12, 1990, Mr. Seybold's standby counsel filed a motion on behalf of Mr. Seybold requesting that the trial be continued because the complete set of tapes or transcripts had been delivered on April 8, which was too late to allow proper preparation for the scheduled April 18 trial. The next scheduled status hearing, scheduled for April 13, was continued to April 17 upon Mr. Seybold's motion to continue for religious reasons.

At a status hearing on the morning of April 17, 1990, Mr. Seybold informed the court that he wished to change his plea in connection with a plea agreement, which was being prepared. By this time, all of his co-defendants had already pleaded guilty. He was facing trial by himself with perhaps some of his co-defendants as opposing witnesses. That afternoon, the parties

                filed with the court a written plea agreement in which Mr. Seybold agreed to plead guilty to Count Two of the indictment (the substantive RICO violation), and the government agreed to dismiss the remaining counts pending against Mr. Seybold.   After a lengthy examination of Mr. Seybold, the relevant details of which are discussed below, the court accepted Mr. Seybold's guilty plea.   On July 16, 1990, the court sentenced Mr. Seybold to eighteen years' imprisonment for the RICO violation
                
II ANALYSIS

On appeal, Mr. Seybold contends that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to defend himself because with respect to some matters, the court insisted upon dealing with standby counsel rather than with Mr. Seybold. Alternatively, Mr. Seybold argues that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because standby counsel restricted the flow of discovery to him and hampered his ability to make an intelligent decision whether to proceed to trial. Mr. Seybold also invites our attention to the fact that the district court conducted status hearings with the government and standby counsel in his absence. The government submits that Mr. Seybold waived any objection to his right to self-representation when he pleaded guilty, and that his guilty plea was both knowing and voluntary.

A. The Effect of the Guilty Plea on the Sixth Amendment Claim

In a 1970 trilogy of cases, the Supreme Court set forth the general rule that a knowing and voluntary guilty plea bars the defendant from subsequently challenging alleged constitutional deprivations that occurred prior to the plea. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970); McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759 (1970); Parker v. North Carolina, 397 U.S. 790, 90 S.Ct. 1458, 25 L.Ed.2d 785 (1970). The Court best stated the principle behind this rule in Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973):

[A] guilty plea represents a break in the chain of events which has preceded it in the criminal process. When a criminal defendant has solemnly admitted in open court that he is in fact guilty of the offense with which he is charged, he may not thereafter raise independent claims relating to the deprivation of constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea. He may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of the guilty plea by showing that the advice he received from counsel was not within the standards set forth in McMann.

Tollett, 411 U.S. at 267, 93 S.Ct. at 1608. More recently, the Court...

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