The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota recently denied a motion to compel a bankruptcy fraud defendant's former attorney to turn over his case file to assist the former-client in preparing an anticipated habeas petition.
Bryan S. Reichel was convicted by a jury of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud in November 2016. He was sentenced June 2017. Reichel appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentence in December 2018. Reichel recently moved for a court order compelling his former court-appointed defense counsel to provide him with the case file. The district court denied the motion in United States v. Reichel, Case No. 14-cr-0298 (WMW/FLN) (D. Minn. Feb. 11, 2020) (available here).
The court held that while it is mindful of certain ethical obligations that may be implicated by Reichel's request (ABA Standards of Criminal Justice, Defense Function Standards and Commentary and Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct), ethical obligations do not vest the court with authority to compel the production from a former attorney of the case files.
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