In the Matter of David Lamson

This case presents an issue novel to this circuit: if an attorney, during a complicated multi-defendant criminal trial, specifically warned that a recess would be for only five to ten minutes, takes a coffee break which requires him to depend on the uncertain elevator service of a crowded building, and returns some twelve minutes late, is his conduct, if contemptuous, “committed in the actual presence of the court?” Rule 42(a) Fed. R.Crim.P.

In this case the district court deemed it was. The failure to report back on time occurred in mid-morning. The court, at 1 p. m., met with the three…