United States v. Gregory Bell

I join the Court’s opinion upholding Bell’s sentence. I part ways with the majority, however, on Wilson’s conviction. In my view, the District Court violated the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by forcing Wilson to continue his defense with replacement counsel who had been absent from court during the earlier testimony of key government witnesses. Because this error requires reversing Wilson’s conviction and remanding his case for a new trial, I respectfully dissent.

I

The Supreme Court decided United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984) and Strickland v. Washington,…