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The attorneys for a man charged in a marijuana smuggling case continued their arguments Monday that the case against him should be thrown out over the alleged conflicts of a law firm that previously represented him.
Thomas Anderson Jr.’s current attorneys say the indictment against him should be dismissed because attorney conflicts violated his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel.
Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass attorneys represented Anderson until January. They also had represented both a confidential informant whose tips launched the investigation into Anderson and Corey Nuspl, an Anderson co-defendant who helped make the case to keep Anderson in jail before trial.
N. Scott Rosenblum, a partner at the firm, testified at a June hearing that his firm partner’s representation of Nuspl ended when they found out about the conflict. At an August 2014 detention hearing for Anderson, Nuspl was being represented by an attorney from another firm. The confidential source, referred to as CS#1, was sentenced in November 2012 in a separate case.
One of Anderson’s current attorneys, Justin Gelfand, said that it was an “open question of law” whether a defendant was entitled to effective assistance of counsel before his indictment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nannette Baker said that caselaw didn’t agree with Anderson’s attorneys on the question of conflicts before indictments.
“I get your argument, though,” Baker said, and asked Gelfand to give arguments on any post-indictment harm.
Gelfand, of Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, said a lawyer has duties to former clients and can be a conflicted lawyer even after dropping the representation of one of the conflicted clients.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker said Anderson’s attorneys couldn’t show he’d suffered any harm.
“Thomas Anderson already has what he’s entitled to, and that’s conflict-free counsel,” Becker said.
Baker said at the end of the hearing that she’d take the case under submission.
The case is USA v. Thomas Anderson Jr., 4:14-CR-246.
