february23,2010 false arrest and with no injury

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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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    Proceedings 1

    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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    Proceedings 1

    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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    Proceedings 2

    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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    Proceedings 2

    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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    Proceedings 2

    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