Finton J. Phelan, Jr. v. People of the Territory of Guam

Finton J. Phelan, appellant, an attorney, was appointed out of the panel of attorneys of the district for the Territory of Guam, pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, 18 U.S.C.A. § 3006 , to represent Edward D. Rosario. Rosario, 19 years old, was on trial on seven counts of forging and uttering checks drawn on certain Guam banks, in violation of the Penal Code of Guam.

The facts pertinent to the instant problem, as related in Rosario v. People of Territory of Guam, 9 Cir., 391 F.2d 869 , decided March 13, 1968, were that about 8:00 A.M. on October 29, 1966, Juan T. Bias, the Commissioner of Yigo, who under the Government Code of Guam was authorized and empowered to act as a peace officer in his jurisdiction, had been called by a bank employee regarding a forged cheek cashed by Rosario. Bias, who was a close friend of Rosario’s family and had known him since a child, immediately went to Rosario’s home and had a conversation with Rosario in the presence of Rosario’s mother. At Rosario’s trial, on direct examination, Commissioner Bias testified that he had asked Rosario if he was “the one who came to the Bank of America and cashed a forged check as payee, Edward R. Reyes ? ”…