UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
v.
JAMES B. SPARLIN, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
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The court held that the appellant was not denied counsel and that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction.
The appellant contended he was denied counsel, ridiculed by the judge, and that the prosecution improperly used public opinion. The court reviewed the…
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PER CURIAM.
This is a companion case to U. S. v. Carter, 5 Cir. 1978, 568 F. 2d 453 and U. S. v. Moore, 569 F. 2d 1312, decided this date. Those two cases dispose of the issues in the instant case except the following.
Appellant’s contention that he was denied a reasonable opportunity to obtain counsel is refuted by the record. He was granted a continuance of both his arraignment and his trial to enable him to retain counsel. The court informed appellant that he would not be granted any further delay, yet he appeared at trial without counsel. It is clear that appellant proceeded pro se below, as in this court, because he desired to do so.
We find nothing in the record to support contentions that appellant was ridiculed by the trial judge at pretrial and at trial and that the U.S. Attorney improperly employed public opinion to convict appellant.
The evidence was sufficient to support the conviction. There was no error in instructing the jury. The sentence imposed was within the discretion of the court.
AFFIRMED.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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United States v. Evans, 574 F.2d 1287 (5th Cir. 1978)
Authorities Cited
- Isbell Enters., Inc. v. Citizens Cas. Co. OF NEW York, 431 F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1970)
- United States, 568 F.2d 453 (5th Cir. 1978)
- United States v. Moore, 569 F.2d 1312 (5th Cir. 1978)