John M. Mudd v. United States

*1510MIKVA, Circuit Judge:

This appeal is the latest in a series of cases construing the Supreme Court’s decision in Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976). The question presented is whether an order by the district court, instructing defense counsel not to speak with his client about the latter’s testimony over a weekend recess, deprived defendant of his sixth amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel. If there was a violation, we then must decide whether reversal is automatically required or whether the order should be subject to a “harmless error”…