In the criminal case that won’t die, Rodney Anton Williamson (“RAW”) makes his way to the Fourth Circuit once again - after prevailing somewhat with SCOTUS with a remand order.

Cops caught RAW with kilos of cocaine after using a wired snitch to record a conversation. RAW claimed the conversation – which occurred after a sealed indictment had been issued – violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel and Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

He initially lost that Sixth Amendment claim in the Fourth Circuit. But when it reached SCOTUS, the government conceded the point but argued harmless error.

(We’d bet the Fourth Circuit was delighted by that twist. “Um, we were wrong, so was the Fourth, but uhh … Whatevz?”)

That’s now on appeal, along with the eternal Sixth Amendment claim.

Fifth Amendment

The right against self-incrimination is a fundamental tenant of our justice system, but it doesn’t apply to someone openly blabbing to a snitch. The police put a wire on RAW’s co-conspirator, who flipped after another co-conspirator was indicted. Neither RAW nor the snitch knew about the sealed indictment against RAW. There were also no rehearsed probing questions nor instructions given to the snitch, other than attach the microphone and have lunch.

The voluntariness of his statements depends on whether they were “the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by [their] maker” or if, instead, “his will [was] overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired.” Taking into account the facts of the sting operation, RAW’s statements to his friend did not amount to a Fifth Amendment violation.

  • United States v. Williamson (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals)
  • 4th Circuit Could Force Prisons to Provide Sex Change Operations (FindLaw’s Fourth Circuit Blog)
  • State Secrecy Upheld in WikiLeaks ECPA Records Request Case (FindLaw’s Fourth Circuit Blog)

You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help

Civil Rights

Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court

Criminal

Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records

Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules