Thomas Sweeney v. United States

Thomas Sweeney has appealed from his conviction on two counts of the indictment charging him in each count with receiving, concealing and facilitating the transportation of marijuana in violation of Title 21, U.S.C. § 176a.

The appellant stated in his brief that the questions presented on this appeal are:

After fully considering the record in this case our answer to each of the questions presented is in the negative.

It appears that before the scheduled trial commenced the trial judge noted that the defendant (appellant) had not entered a plea to the superseding indictment and thereupon requested counsel to approach the bench. As shown in the Reporter’s Transcript, the proceedings as set forth in Footnote No. 1 were conducted at the bench of the trial judge.

Appellant claims that he was not present at the bench during this conference and as a result he was denied the right to a public trial as provided by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Appellant also contends that said proceeding violated Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. We do not agree with either contention.

The record indicates that the appellant was present at the bench…