United States v. Marcus Robert Castaneda, 1

INTERIM REPORT

This interim report concerns events that should never have happened, a brouhaha in one of our district courts and the Court of Appeals.

Pursuant to a recommendation from a panel of this Court for an inquiry, Chief Judge Browning of this Court appointed me to conduct an investigation of the surrounding events. Accordingly I held a hearing in Los Angeles on November 19, 1977. Ultimately, it will be my duty to recommend whether any disciplinary proceeding should be initiated with respect to any members of the bar. But for now, this report will deal largely with the record.

Robert Castenada was indicted on January 26, 1977, for a series of bank robberies in the Los Angeles area. Ultimately, on April 15, in Courtroom 16 a district judge at Los Angeles found him not presently competent to stand trial. So, he is a government “guest” at the Terminal Island (Federal) Correctional Center near Los Angeles. In the robbery case, he was represented by the Federal public defender of the Central District. Now we leave Courtroom 16 and its judge and go to Courtroom 10 and another judge.

On September 18,1977, there was a stabbing at the Federal Terminal Island Center, resulting…