I have discussed William Baskerville's
case on this blog in past and its connection to the Paul Bergrin
case. In my last post, I included updates and addressed the
evidentiary hearing ordered by the court. I have the feeling that US
District Judge Sheridan expected to move to the hearing rather
quickly, but once again, William has an uninterested attorney
assigned. However, this time no attorney will be allowed to sabotage
his case. I believe that the letter was mailed to the court
yesterday. William copied to me and I am publishing here as I believe
that we need to keep this case in the sunshine, as we say in Florida.
The letter to the court:
William Baskerville
Date:
Reg. No. 25946-050
FCI McKean Medium
Honorable Judge Peter G. Sheridan,
U.S.D.J.
United States District Court
Clarkson S. Fisher Court And
Untied States Courthouse
402 East State Street
Trenton, New Jersey, 08608
RE: UNITED STATES V.WILLIAM BASKERVILLE
Court Appointed Attorney
CIVIL NUMBER 13-5881(PGS)
CRIMINAL NUMBER 03-836(JAP)
Dear Honorable Judge Sheridan,
I am writing to inform you of my
various attempts to make initial contact with my recently Court
appointed counsel Mr. Bruce Throckmorton. As of the date this Court
appointed Mr. Throckmorton to my case, I have made several attempts
to communicate with him via email dating from December 12/10/2018-
January 14, 2019 which have been to no avail,( See attached Exhibit
1) I had family members continuous make calls to his office and cell
phone some he answered and return back but as of late he has not
responted, on January 10, 2019 I had the unit Counselor Mr. Miller
send him a email to set up a phone conference, and on January 15,
2019 the unit Case Manager Mr. Nero gave me a legal call to try to
reach Mr. Throckmorton which was also to no avail.
As a result of my inability to make
contact with counsel and counsel's inactions with respect to
contacting me I am now respectfully requesting that the Court
implement the following solution, which is to appoint new counsel or
allow my previous appellate counsel, Mr. Mark A. Berman to be
reinstated as my counsel of record regarding my current legal
proceedings. At this point I must mention that a potential conflict
of interest may exist regarding Mr. Berman being that I previously
filed ineffective assistance of counsel claims again him. However, I
am willing to waive any potential conflicts of interest issues that
may have existed.
It is my position that Mr. Berman is
best suited to represent me because of, (1) his familiarity with my
case, (2) his strong work ethic and open line of communication with
clients, (3) his representation would save the Court valuable time
and resources and allow my defense to proceed more fluidly, and (4)
his willingness to accept input from me regarding matters pertaining
to the case.
In the past I have dealt with lawyers
who were unwilling to allow me to provide them with any input or who
have litigated my case without informing me of their plan of action.
Those experiences have lead to many set backs. I am a litigant who is
very much involved in researching my own case and I am hands-on when
it comes to the issues I believe should be raised. (Mr. Berman has
affirmed these facts in his declaration. Doc. 16 pgs. 6-7 pars.
22-26) I very much would appreciated a lawyer who is going to respect
that and allow me to participate in my own defense.
Respectfully Submitted,
UPDATED on JANUARY 24, 2019 with government response to William Baskerville's letter:
W Baskerville Govt Letter Jan 23 2019
So it is beginning to look like the government shutdown is interrupting the intended sabotage of William's evidentiary hearing. We shall see what happens next.
