Opinion

United States v. Nick Senak

  • 477 F.2d 304
Court
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Filed
Jun 5, 1973
Status
Published
Author
Fairchild
On the bench
Fairchild, Pell, Sprecher
Cited by
29 cases
Authority
More cited than 25.0%

“[a] federal grand jury may return a second indictment for the same offense when the first indictment has been dismissed or otherwise found defective”

How later courts described this case

  • “[a] federal grand jury may return a second indictment for the same offense when the first indictment has been dismissed or otherwise found defective”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

FAIRCHILD, Circuit Judge

(concurring).

While I agree that the instant indictment states an offense against the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 242 , the legal theory upon which the indictment is grounded does not, in my view, satisfactorily grapple with the primary “deprivation” effected by defendant’s alleged conduct.

The right of indigents to appointed counsel is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 , 83 S.Ct. 792 , 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). And, the “essence of this right is the right to effective, competent and adequate representation.” Wilson v. Phend, 417 F.2d 1197, 1199 (7th Cir. 1969). See also, Calloway v. Powell, 393 F.2d 886, 888 (5th Cir. 1968). Thus, if an appointed attorney threatens to provide less than adequate legal services for an indigent defendant unless paid additional sums, he in effect subjects that defendant to a deprivation of his Sixth Amendment rights.

It is this subjection of an indigent to deprivation of his Sixth Amendment rights which is the real harm posed by defendant’s alleged conduct. Accordingly, the indictment would be better framed if it focused upon this reality.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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