A Life Wasted

Anthrax Trial

About the time I settled into life at the Lewisburg Pen I was indicted by a Philadelphia federal grand jury for multiple counts of "Threatening Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction." The United States Attorney could have tried me anywhere I had a victim, so basically in any state east of the Mississippi River, but they chose Philadelphia because it was near Lewisburg. Since everyone was a bit uncomfortable about putting me in a jail without a wall around it, they decided to move me back and forth between Philadelphia and Lewisburg. When they needed to keep me overnight in Philadelphia, like for a hearing or the trial itself, they kept me at the Federal Detention Center (which is like a federal jail). But in all the waiting time between hearings and sentencing they moved me back to Lewisburg.

So my first appearance was before a federal magistrate judge for an arraignment. At that hearing a lawyer from the Federal Public Defender's Office introduced himself as my "Stand-by Counsel." During the hearing I did all the talking and interacted with the Magistrate Judge and the United States Attorney. About half way through the hearing the U.S. Attorney realized I was defending myself, and knowing this wasn't how things were done said to the Magistrate, "Aren't you supposed to offer him an attorney?" The Magistrate Judge said, "It is my understanding that he is going to represent himself." This was news to me as I hadn't told anyone this. I had represented myself at my last trial, so it seems they assumed I was going to do so again.

The Magistrate Judge then turned to me and said, "Are you going to represent yourself?" To which I said, "Yep." That was the last inquiry on the subject. I was never offered an attorney, I never turned down an attorney and I was never given the required "Faretta Hearing" so I did not "knowingly and intelligently" waive my Constitutional Right to Counsel. In legal terms this is called a "complete denial of counsel." The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that cases like this are an "Automatic Reversal." My conviction and sentence are illegal by the most critical legal standards, but because I didn't appeal the conviction I can't raise the issue. It is called being "Time-barred" and there seems to be nothing I can do about it.

The trial was complex. Too complex for a single defense attorney to handle, so it was undoubtedly too complex for a criminal defendant who quit school in ninth grade to handle. My pre-trial motions were a disaster since the Federal District Judge ruled against me on each and every motion. Yet she ruled in favor of the United States Attorney on every pre-trial motion they filed. This is not to say that the Judge was unfair, I don't allege that at all. The pre-trial motions are evidence that I had no idea what I was doing.

If the pre-trial disaster left any doubt that I needed a lawyer in this complex case, the three-week trial itself should have removed all doubt. The jury found me guilty and I was sentenced to 228 months in prison. Nearly 20 years in prison for sending a threat letter with harmless white powder.

If this case is ever heard on its merits the conviction will be overturned because I wasn't given a lawyer. If I were to be resentenced on this, with a defense lawyer to argue the law, the most I could be sentenced to would be five years. Anyone know a good lawyer?