United States v. Edward Grady Partin

Edward Grady Partin appealed his conviction of October 4,1977 on three counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1503. We have jurisdiction of the appeal, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1294.

Partin was indicted on October 4, 1973 in the Middle District of Louisiana on three counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The trial which is the subject of this appeal was Partin’s third trial under this indictment and it was held in San Diego, Califor nia, pursuant to Rule 21(a), F.R.Cr.P. The indictment under which Partin was charged also charged eleven other persons, each of whom was named in only one count of the indictment. Two of Partin’s codefendants were Harold Sykes and Ben Trantham, both of whom were named in Count II of the indictment. The persons named in the indictment were not tried as one group; Par-tin was tried alone. Partin retained James McPherson as his attorney at his first and third trials. He was also represented in his San Diego trial by attorney Mitchell, who served as local counsel with McPherson and participated briefly throughout the trial. McPherson was likewise retained by Sykes, Trantham and five other codefendants, representing…