february23,2010 false arrest and with no injury
TRANSCRIPT
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, *
*
Docket No. 08-cr-054,
09-cr-121, and 09-cr-141
** Buffalo, New York
v. * February 23, 2010
* 10:14 a.m.
*
SHANE C. BUCZEK, * STATUS CONFERENCE
*
Defendant. *
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
BEFORE THE HONORABLE WILLIAM M. SKRETNY
UNITED STATES CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE
APPEARANCES:
For the Government: MARY C. BAUMGARTEN
Assistant United States AttorneyAppearing for the United States
For the Defendant: SHANE C. BUCZEK, pro se
BRIAN P. COMERFORD,
Attorney Advisor
Court Reporter: Patricia A. Galas, Notary Public,
Notary Public
Jack W. Hunt & Associates, Inc.
1420 Liberty BuildingBuffalo, New York 14202
(716) 853-5600
Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography,
transcript produced by computer.
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THE CLERK: Criminal Case 2009-121, USA versus Shane
Buczek.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Good morning, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Good morning, Ms. Baumgarten. How are
you?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: I'm well, thank you, Judge.
THE COURT: Mr. Comerford, good morning.
MR. COMERFORD: Good morning, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Shane Buczek.
THE DEFENDANT: I just want to start off that I'm
reserving all my rights today by crossing into the Bar. As you
are quite aware, I had a couple filings that I filed yesterday.
THE COURT: Well, the only one I know about is the
motion for recusal.
THE DEFENDANT: There's something much more important
than that, Judge.
THE COURT: Well, that's all I have so I'm going to
proceed and whatever it is, it will surface, I'm sure.
THE DEFENDANT: I do want to make the Court aware that
I did file -- as a third-party plaintiff in this case, I did
file a counterclaim on Case Number 09-cr-121. It's seven pages
long. I made it very short and brief and cut all the clutter
and riffraff out and got right to the point.
Also, I put a petition in for a complete dismissal
based on the ratification and commencement and no controversy
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present in front of the Court, pursuant to the Constitution, th
New York Constitution and also the Seventh Amendment that we
talked about last time dating back to the transcripts on
January 14th of 2010. And I have that as an exhibit.
And I also typed up an order granting petition for
lack of ratification, commencement, and no controversy,
dismissing all charges in Case Number 09-cr-121. I think it's
121, right?
THE COURT: It is the trial case and that's the one
that you should be concentrating on because that's the one set
for trial on Tuesday. There will be a final pretrial conferenc
on Monday at 10:00 -- or final status conference.
I'm going to go through a checklist because you need
to be ready.
Did you receive all those filings, Ms. Baumgarten?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: I did not, Your Honor. I was aware
that a motion for recusal had been filed. I did not actually
receive a copy of it, Your Honor. Of course we would object to
that and oppose it, Your Honor.
THE COURT: As what? Untimely or other grounds or
both?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: All of that, Your Honor. I'm
anticipating. I don't know, not having reviewed all of the
documentation, and that in part it's based on a recusal not
personally directed to Assistant Attorney Generals, but the
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entirety of the office.
THE COURT: All right. So probably what you should do
is take a look at those motions. You're going to be trying thi
case. Mr. Bruce can respond to those motions and I'll wait for
his response but we will proceed in terms of getting prepared
for trial.
I just want to go through my checklist here,
Mr. Buczek. I do have the Government's questions with respect
to voir dire. You know what that is. That's jury selection.
And I don't know if you're going to present any
questions. It's really late now, but whatever you might give t
me, I'll take a look at it as long as I get it by that final
status conference at 10:00 on Monday.
I take it the Government submitted everything it
intends to submit on voir dire?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT: As far as the jury instructions, we appear
to be set, both sides on that. As far as the witness list is
concerned, I think you have four live witnesses, Ms. Baumgarten
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Your Honor, there may be an
additional witness. That would be Scott Kawski from the United
States Probation Office.
I have forwarded over a stipulation to defense counsel
for review to determine whether or not he could also agree to
that stipulation and the fact that the Defendant was actually o
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release at the time the alleged offense occurred, Your Honor.
I am trying to avoid calling that witness if possible.
THE COURT: Okay. We will wait on that. But you are
on notice that that may be the case.
I'm going to go through this checklist and then you
can make your comments at the appropriate time, Mr. Buczek. If
you have information on what you are going to submit, then let
me know.
As far as a witness list, are you going to submit a
witness list?
THE DEFENDANT: That's the whole thing. I really want
to get to that issue, but my main issue right now is, not even
the controversy at this point, with the representation of the
Western District of New York. Because the rule clearly shows
that they can't even represent -- anybody from that office and
you are aware of the conflict of interest. But that's not my
issue right now.
My main issue is finding out where in the world is the
controversy at? Where is the ratification and commencement at?
Where is the -- I believe it's call a charging, accusatory
instrument for my inspection? And let the record reflect there
is none.
THE COURT: No, there is. We talked about that.
THE DEFENDANT: It's just like the mortgages. They
sell the mortgages on the market, they're gone. Just like this
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case too. So I need to see that so I can proceed, Judge.
THE COURT: Okay, Mr. Buczek, we've talked about that.
You don't agree and probably you can raise those on appeal,
those issues, I don't know. But you are the subject, as you
know, of an indictment.
THE DEFENDANT: Well, I don't consent to that.
THE COURT: No, you don't have to. And I understand.
Your position is you're not consenting to the instrument, to th
charge. You've signed certain documents as, I am me, I think.
I understand all of that but --
THE DEFENDANT: I know you do. And I don't mean to
get you, I don't want to say upset, ticked off, whatever.
I'm just here as a living, breathing man. I'm not a
corporate entity. I never will be, not in this lifetime anyway
And I'm here to close all matters. And I believe the backgroun
of this case has been closed and settled and it has been closed
and settled for a very long time.
THE COURT: Yeah, but unfortunately the system works
differently. In your mind, it's closed and settled. It's
really not as far as the system is concerned. So that's maybe
where your opening is.
And I'm not upset, and I'm not ticked off or anything
like that, but we do have to proceed in a fashion that's
consistent with the rules. And that's what I explained to you
the last time you were in Court. And they are the Rules of the
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Court, not your rules. But nevertheless, you are bound by them
even though you take the position you are not subject to the
jurisdiction.
THE DEFENDANT: Well, you know, the thing is I'm not
in the military. I'm definitely not a United States employee.
I'm a civilian. I'm a live man on the land. I know it sounds
kind of crazy because a lot of people here don't understand wha
I'm talking about.
I'm definitely not a corporate entity and I made that
perfectly clear with all my recordings that I've recorded. And
Judge Schroeder is very aware of that too. Last I checked, I
had blood in my body.
I don't know how you feel as a live man, not the
Court. I'm talking to you as man to man, that we have blood in
our body. And I'm a living, breathing man and the Defendant is
actually -- in reality is dead.
THE COURT: Whatever -- how that relates to what we're
doing right now, that remains to be seen. But what I'm going t
do is after we get through this checklist, I'm going to issue a
decision that relates to some of the motions that you have made
That will give you a little bit more of a roadmap as
to what will be permissible at trial. So try to focus on that
and you can do your other thing in supplement. But you need to
at least have the framework, a starting point, a basis. And
that's what I think the decision will give you. Some motions
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you prevail on, some you don't. So we will go through all of
that.
All right. So right now, we don't have an exhibit
list. We don't have any expert witnesses that will be
testifying as far as I know.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: That is correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. You've made available 36, 3500
exhibits?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Right, Judge.
THE COURT: They've been given to Mr. Comerford and
Mr. Buczek?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Just Mr. Comerford, Your Honor. I
have been providing things to him. It is my understanding he
has been providing them to Mr. Buczek.
THE COURT: And that's correct, Mr. Comerford?
MR. COMERFORD: Judge, I provided Mr. Buczek with a
copy of the discovery in this case, 09-CR-121, which I think it
included the 3500 material, the exhibits we are talking about.
THE CLERK: He should have for trial, though, a copy
of the marked exhibits.
MR. COMERFORD: We don't have that, Judge.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: We will get them the correct ones,
Judge.
THE COURT: You should get those forthwith so
Mr. Buczek has time to review them. And put them in a binder
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and get them set up.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: I will, Your Honor.
THE COURT: I have your pretrial memo with respect to
the case. And I've read that and I've gone through it. And
there is a response to it, so for all practical purposes, we're
together.
Statement of the case, I will make the presentation
with respect to the statement of the case for purposes of jury
selection. The verdict form? I don't have a special verdict
form. I think the Government's position is that a special
verdict form is not necessary.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: It may be, Judge, if we are unable to
resolve the issue with respect to the Defendant being on
supervised release, Your Honor. I think it may be appropriate
to have a special verdict on that issue. But as I said earlier
we are attempting to resolve that.
THE COURT: Okay. We're holding that in abeyance
right now.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Yes, Your Honor. I do not expect it
will be difficult.
THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I do have one more thing that I
probably --
THE COURT: Give me a chance to get through two more
points, that will take care of my list. And then we will issue
a statement on what the decisions are as far as the motions and
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then I'll let you make your points, Mr. Buczek.
There are no stipulations that have been entered into
up to this point in time, is that right?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: That is correct.
THE COURT: You know what stipulations are, they're
agreements.
THE DEFENDANT: I have a rough idea. Can you do a
little bit of a clarification on that?
THE COURT: Well, it boils down to you agreeing with
the Government as to an established fact or what may be
competent evidence. You can talk with Mr. Comerford a little
bit about whether or not that can be entered into. That may
help both sides in this case, I don't know.
THE DEFENDANT: I have no problems with agreeing with
everything. I've been very accommodating for going on two
years. I'll consent to anything, but I can't do that until I
see the original charging instrument, the ratification and
commencement.
Judge, what would you do if you were in my shoes right
now? Wouldn't you want to know? Who did I injure? Where's th
ratification? I mean, this is in their own rules. I'm not
blind, I can read it. I now understand the difference between
solvent and insolvent, in 1933, and the silver and the gold, an
getting back to the controversy, and you know and I know, there
is none.
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THE COURT: No, that's mischaracterizing what I've
said because I have said that the accusatory instrument in this
case, the indictment, does establish a controversy for purposes
of proceeding in a criminal case.
I know you don't agree with that, but again, we must
proceed on the basis of the Rules of Court. And those are
specific. Again, they may not be your rules, but the way I'm
looking at this, Mr. Buczek, at this point preserving your
rights to appeal, you must abide by the Rules of Court, the
Rules of Evidence and the Rules of Procedure.
That's what we talked about the other day. We have
talked about it countless times. So we have to work in that
fashion.
I'm going to get to the Motions in Limine, which are
your series of motions. But I'm going to give you a chance
before I give you my opinion. That's what I said, on some
issues, you win. On some issues, you lose. Some are a little
bit of both, but before I get to do them, I know you had some
matters to say as far as the items that I go on to.
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, there is. I just want to put on
the record, that's all, on for the record, in my opinion, there
seems to be no valid accusatory instrument. I've been here,
Judge, under threat and duress going on two and a half years
now. There is no contract present in front of the Court,
there's no meeting of the minds of anything.
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And I really want to be done with this issue. And I
just can't find a valid claim in front of me. I think I
mentioned this before --
THE COURT: Let me just interrupt. You have a copy of
the indictment. That is the valid claim for purposes of this
trial, the first of three cases.
THE DEFENDANT: Aren't copies just hearsay?
THE COURT: This is not a hearsay document. This is
the product of a Grand Jury action and that is the charge that
you face in connection with your case here.
I'm not going to get into any more discussion than
that. But just so you know, that's the way that the proceeding
must go forward on the basis of the charge brought -- after
return of the Federal Grand Jury.
THE DEFENDANT: One more thing. You probably already
know about this from Judge Schroeder, but Registered Mail numbe
RR 353687187 US, I indemnified the entire case way back in
August and I got a warrant issued out for me for doing this.
And I was incarcerated for seven days. And I believe it's the
notice of international -- I believe it was an indemnity bond
for 500 million.
You're aware of that, right? I just want it on the
record. That way there's some kind of insurance policy out for
me. And I took a look at Fidelity and I seen three of these
cases floating around.
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THE COURT: Is that the bonded note that you're
talking about or is that something else?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I am. I'm sure you're aware of
that, right?
THE COURT: I am.
THE DEFENDANT: Okay. And also, I did some research
on three of these cases that are being traded on the market
right now with Fidelity. And I just want to let you know on th
record, I'm not for sale, Judge. I'll make that clear.
THE COURT: Fair enough. And again, as you know, I
can't give you legal advice. I really am a neutral person that
has to decide the proper issues that come before me or at least
decide the issues in a proper fashion.
In your best interest, because the Rules of Court and
Procedure and Evidence will apply, you need to get yourself
ready for trial starting next week. That means you have to
prepare your defense or prepare to counter the Government's
case.
Now, here's the decision that I will issue that are
controlling for purposes of the trial and it's with respect to
the Government's Motions in Limine and yours.
The Government charges you with, in this case,
09-criminal-121, with committing bank fraud in violation of
Section 1344 of the Criminal Code, between September 18, 2008
and January 16th, 2009.
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And that's in connection with, as you know, the
allegations related to purchases through HSBC of electronic
equipment from Best Buy. And I'm going to get right to the
rulings because you are all familiar with the issues raised in
the motions.
The Government moves to preclude you from presenting
any evidence of reference to, and I quote, "tax protestor" or,
and I quote again, "redemption theories" related to the Federal
Government's taxing power or the existence of secret bank
accounts held by the Federal Government for each citizen of the
United States. You have filed documents consistent with these
theories in these and other proceedings, and I'm going to grant
the Government's motion for the most part.
First, I note that Mr. Comerford has indicated in his
responding papers that you do not intend to introduce a defense
based on these theories. And I am unsure whether that is still
the case but, in any event, I will preclude the introduction of
evidence or references to these particular theories.
First, the theories largely purport to be statements
of law. Instructing the jury on the correct law is my task. I
doesn't become a task of the parties or the lawyers.
Second, those theories are incorrect and I will not
permit the jury to be mislead.
And third, I find that the introduction of those
theories would confuse the jury and distract them from the
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issues at hand, which is whether the Government can prove your
guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That's the proof standard.
The burden is on the Government, not on you.
So any evidence, testimony, and witnesses offered
solely for the purpose of relying on the theories I mentioned,
to the jury, my decision is that that evidence will be preclude
as will the theories.
That being said, Mr. Buczek, you will be permitted to
offer evidence and testimony concerning willfulness. And liste
to this. You're permitted to do this because willfulness is an
essential element of the crime charged. That is, you are
entitled to present evidence or argue that you had a good faith
misunderstanding of what the law required.
To that extent, the tax protestor or redemption
theories are relevant on that issue. And I will allow such
evidence or argument, but I will monitor that very, very
carefully. And the opportunity for introducing the theories on
the basis is narrow and it's limited.
But Mr. Buczek, you cannot introduce evidence or argue
that you disagree with the law, that the law is wrong or
invalid, that it is unconstitutional, or that there is some
other flaw in the law based on the tax protestor or redemption
theories that you have raised in the past.
Should you make any attempt to introduce these
theories, I will instruct the jury to disregard the testimony o
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statement. And if it persists, I will have to admonish you in
front of the jury, which I don't think is in your best interest
or anybody's best interest.
Further, the Government requests that I preclude
documents that may be offered by you, including documents and
materials that you may have created. I don't have those
documents before me, nor do I know what you intend to introduce
because I don't have an exhibit list or the exhibits similar to
the ones that the Government describes. So I will handle any
objections to documents at the time that they may be proffered.
You are on notice, however, that documents relating to
tax protestor or redemption theories will not be accepted into
evidence unless it is demonstrated that they bear directly on
the issue of willfulness or another material issue in this
trial. This ruling also applies to the Government's request to
preclude the introduction of Court opinions, statutes, and
Government regulations. I will handle the Government's
objection if and when such testaments are proffered.
Finally, the Government requests that I preclude you
from asking examination questions that would require a fact
witness to give a legal opinion. Eliciting a legal opinion
would be improper. But again, in the absence here of an
articulated question or line of questioning, it is difficult fo
me to rule. So you are advised I will instruct the jury on the
law and will not permit witnesses to testify about the state of
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the law or what they think the law should be. That's dealing
with the Government's Motion in Limine.
Let me move on to yours. Because you filed a Motion
in Limine on January 4th of this year, at that time, you were
represented by Mr. Comerford. He's now your standby counsel.
don't have a response from the Government to that. But you
moved to preclude the Government from referring to you as a tax
protestor or introducing evidence concerning your tax protestor
or redemption beliefs. Because this is not a tax case and tax
protestor-type statements will be introduced into the trial onl
on a limited bases, if at all, I'm going to grant your motion.
At this time, I see no reason why the Government would
need to refer to you as a tax protestor. Moreover, for the
reasons I've already articulated, evidence concerning tax
protestor or redemption beliefs will be precluded.
And finally, Mr. Buczek, you asked me that the
Government be precluded from referring to the fact that you hav
two other criminal cases pending in this court. Those cases, a
I see it, are unrelated to the present bank fraud prosecution,
so I'm going to grant your motion in that regard.
So as to both requests I just granted, you,
Mr. Buczek, are on notice that I will provide the Government an
opportunity to introduce evidence if you open the door. For
example, if you argue or attempt to elicit testimony concerning
pending cases against you, you will have opened the door for th
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Government introducing evidence on that subject.
So you have to be cautious in that regard. Know what
you are doing, consult with Mr. Comerford, work on your
preparations because you will be held accountable for your
conduct at trial based on the Rules of Evidence and Procedure
that apply to Court proceedings in the normal course. And thos
are my rulings.
Do you understand them?
THE DEFENDANT: Judge, may I make a comment first?
THE COURT: Do you understand that? As far as what
I've said, do you understand that?
THE DEFENDANT: I heard what you said.
THE COURT: You may not disagree (sic) with it, but
you understand it, right?
THE DEFENDANT: I don't want to understand it because
I don't comprehend it, I guess, because there's a lot of things
that you said -- and I'm not a licensed attorney and I know the
U.S. Attorney's Office has some issues with me based on my
personal belief system. And I strongly feel that -- I'm trying
to see how this case can go forward. I don't know how it is,
but it is.
And the reason why I bring that up is there's been a
huge mistake. And there's been no proper notice. And
there's been -- I see no controversy present in front of the
Court and I made that perfectly clear in a very short one and a
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half page petition that I filed yesterday.
THE COURT: The fact of the matter is, that's old
news, that's history. I've already discussed that with you.
THE DEFENDANT: I know.
THE COURT: So it's done. It's fait accompli. It's
over. Can we move forward?
As far as the bench decision, Mr. Comerford, at least
in your backup role capacity, you understand what I did
articulated?
MR. COMERFORD: Yes, Judge.
Judge, I apologize for interrupting. I have one
scheduling matter I wanted to ask the Court about.
THE COURT: Sure.
MR. COMERFORD: The morning of Wednesday, March 3rd,
which would be the day after we're scheduled to pick a jury, I
have a personal commitment that morning that I have been unable
to the move.
I asked the Government if they would object to going
down for that morning and they have no problem with it. If
that's still the case, I just want to know if that's possible.
I would appreciate it.
THE COURT: Yes, I think we can work that out, start
at 2:00 maybe?
MR. COMERFORD: That would be great, Judge. Thank
you.
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MS. BAUMGARTEN: Your Honor, when we do jury selection
on Tuesday, should we be prepared to have opening statements?
THE COURT: Yes, and proof, if we have time.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: The other thing, You Honor, it would
be required for the Government, as I stated earlier, as part of
the stipulation to establish that the Defendant was on release
as part of it. It's an enhancement, Your Honor.
If we can't reach a stipulation with respect to it, I
think I would have to in some way not refer to the specifics of
why he was on release but that he was under supervision. That'
why the Government would have to call Mr. Kawski as a witness i
we can't come to an agreement and read the stipulation on that.
THE COURT: Why don't you work on that with, first,
Mr. Buczek and, in connection with Mr. Buczek, Mr. Comerford an
then we will finally discuss it on Monday at 10:00.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Thank you, Judge.
THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I know you are referring to me
by calling me Buczek. And I want to make a record. I don't
consent to the last name. Just a record of it, okay? Because
I'm a living, breathing man and I don't like to be putting
titles on me.
There are more things I want to say but the things I
want to say should be held in Chambers.
THE COURT: And you know I can't do that, right?
THE DEFENDANT: I know that, but I do want to make a
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Proceedings 2
record of it. Because there are so many things I would like to
talk about because I found, you know, with the case, you know,
the Fidelity and being sold and the bid bond, performance bond,
that's something I can talk about here, because I do know about
it.
And that stuff, if it ever gets to it, it would be
done in Chambers. And I will not bring it up. I tried to do
that once before and I went to a psych center.
THE COURT I think what you've done is made your
record. And I think the record's also clear that I cannot have
conversations with just one party.
THE DEFENDANT: I clearly know that and the
U.S. Attorney is welcome to be there, but fictitious allegation
and all those things, you don't talk about? Title 18. And it'
not really kind of a good thing to do.
THE COURT: Well, as you knowfrom my decisions,
certain things are relevant, certain things are not. But with
respect to issues that relate to your intent, that's where you
have a little bit of license. But you're going to need some
guidance, I think, from Mr. Comerford so you can know how you
can channel your proof.
You have no burden, remember that. You have no burden
to do anything. You're presumed innocent. And by the
Government, I mean the United States represented here by
Ms. Baumgarten and backed up by Mr. Bruce, I don't know exactly
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Proceedings 2
what he does. In any event, Ms. Baumgarten will be handling th
main trial load and she'll be representing the United States.
And that will be the party that has the full burden of
proof beyond a reasonable doubt on each essential element of th
crime charged. And you are innocent until proven guilty.
You understand that, right?
THE DEFENDANT: The thing is I also want to make it
clear to the Court, I am the third-party plaintiff in this case
And I did file a counterclaim, which I thought you would take a
look at. And I rushed down here as quick as I could yesterday
because the door just opened, so for -- remember the door has
been shut for me from August all the way until Friday. The
door's been closed for me to file things. But for a brief
moment, we were allowed to file one document.
THE COURT: No, no, that's not exactly right. But in
any event, there is no counterclaim opportunity in a criminal
case. This is not a civil action. This is a criminal action s
whatever you have in mind by way of filing countercharges or
claims, that's not proper by way of Criminal Procedure.
THE DEFENDANT: I'm not here to debate it. I just
want you to hopefully make a ruling on that because, in my
opinion, we are still on the civil side because the criminal
side hasn't been crossed over. Because what? There's no
injured party.
And you know how I feel is that how in the world can
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Proceedings 2
you be charged for bank fraud when there's no banks? You know
banks don't loan money. Gold and silver is lawful money under
Article 1, Section 10. And you can only go to a jury trial or
trial by jury for a controversy exceeding $20. We have no
dollars.
THE COURT: This is a criminal case. You have filed
things or have attempted to. I don't have them all. But I
guess Mr. Bruce is going to make a submission for the Governmen
on those.
So I think that puts us in a position where we will
see everybody here on Monday at 10:00.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Judge, if I just may update the Court
briefly on the status. I have been engaging in discussions
with Mr. Comerford and we have made some progress, but obviousl
not fully. So should that change, Your Honor, I suggest
Mr. Comerford and I could notify your Chambers?
THE COURT: Certainly.
THE DEFENDANT: That's concerning the plea, right?
THE COURT: I assume that's what we're talking about?
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Yes, it would not just be only with
respect to this case, but all three, Your Honor.
THE DEFENDANT: I have no issues with that, Judge.
The only issue I have was the felony.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Judge, we can talk about this
privately if that might be more suitable. I will take the
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Proceedings 2
opportunity to meet with -- if we may, out of the Court's
presence?
THE COURT: I think that's a good idea and you can
address the full panoply of issues, including reservations of
rights and everything else that you might have to factor in
here.
Keep me updated because there's a great expense,
there's a lot of time that's involved in this. And very
honestly, just think about what's in the absolute best interest
Principle is recognizable. I acknowledge what principle is all
about. But remember that when you look to resolve the matter,
sometimes the compromise is maybe not the principle itself, but
the exposure that you make. And that's really what we are
talking about. So principle is principle, I believe that.
THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I come in peace. The last
thing I want to do is argue with Mr. Bruce and jump up and down
screaming and say, your warrant's invalid and I believe in this
and that. That's the last thing I want to do.
THE COURT: You would never convince him in a million
years.
THE DEFENDANT: I know. And I unfortunately have met
with him in his office and we've talked and he doesn't agree
with me, but that's fine. I just want to let you know, I'm
coming here in peace. And I did not want to file that case, by
the way. And I had to. I didn't want to do that.
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THE COURT: I've never viewed it any other way. You
come here in peace, but you've got your own "piece" to say,
right? So continue on, work -- you know, work with
Mr. Comerford and Ms. Baumgarten. And then whatever we have to
do, we'll start on Monday.
THE DEFENDANT: If it does go to trial and it gets to
that point, I do want to put my mom and dad on the stand. But,
unfortunately, they're not going to be here, so I don't know ho
we're going to work that out because we did talk about that a
couple weeks ago in court. And to me, that's vitally important
for the Defendant.
THE COURT: Well, I guess we'll address that when the
time comes, Mr. Buczek. But they have been on notice, as you
have, for a long time when this trial is set to go.
There are so many flexibilities that I have in
connection with this trial. I know, Mrs. Buczek, you asked the
other day because you have a vacation or something scheduled.
MRS. BUCZEK: We're out for business, Judge.
THE COURT: Let's see how the case progresses and if
it becomes necessary, we will talk about things once again. An
we will be as flexible as we possibly can to make sure that bot
sides are treated fairly.
Right now, we'll see you at 10:00 on March 1st.
THE DEFENDANT: One more thing, Judge? As you know,
these are all my documents.
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THE COURT: I don't know that, Mr. Buczek.
THE DEFENDANT: I got them all authenticated.
Remember I talked about a certified copy? This is a certified
copy here, the red seal.
THE COURT: Is that the same thing as a bonded copy,
in your mind?
THE DEFENDANT: This is the original with the raised
seal. I just want to make a record of it, that's all. By the
way, I did surrender the Defendant back in the summertime, the
birth certificate. You know all about that, right?
THE COURT: I don't know if I know about everything,
but I know about a lot.
THE DEFENDANT: Thank you, Judge.
MS. BAUMGARTEN: Thank you, Judge.
THE COURT: Work hard.
(Proceedings concluded at 10:49 a.m.)
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"I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the
record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter."
Patricia A. Galas June 10, 2010Signature Date