United States v. Marquez-Perez, 835 F.3d 153

Background

René Márquez-Pérez was convicted by a federal jury of possession with intent to distribute (21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)) and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)); total sentence 113 months.
At trial the judge frequently rebuked defense counsel for disruptive or confusing questioning; once he ordered a marshal to physically seat counsel after repeated interruptions in the jury’s presence.
Márquez moved for a one-day continuance the day before trial so he and counsel could review government surveillance and firearms-test videos; counsel admitted he had elected not to view the videos earlier.
The government had produced most videos roughly two months before trial and had identified short clips it intended to play at trial.
Márquez claims the judge’s conduct, denial of the continuance, and counsel’s failure to review videos deprived him of a fair trial and effective assistance (he says he might have pled guilty for a lower sentence had counsel reviewed the videos earlier).
The First Circuit affirmed the conviction, rejected the judicial-misconduct and continuance claims for lack of prejudice or abuse of discretion, but remanded for an evidentiary hearing on ineffective assistance of counsel.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Judicial misconduct based on judge's courtroom behavior	Judge's repeated rebukes and ordering marshal to force counsel to sit denied a fair trial	Judge was managing courtroom decorum; most rebukes were permissible; only one event arguably crossed line	No reversal — judge erred in ordering force without exhausting alternatives, but error was not prejudicial; conviction affirmed
Denial of one-day continuance to review videos	Denial prevented adequate preparation and foreclosed a timely guilty plea to a lesser sentence	Request was untimely; counsel contributed by not reviewing; most videos were produced earlier and clips were short	Denial was not an abuse of discretion; no reasonable probability of plea within one day; claim rejected
Ineffective assistance for counsel's failure to review government videos before trial	Counsel’s omission was deficient and caused prejudice because Márquez might have pled and obtained a lesser sentence	Record is undeveloped; speculative whether plea would have occurred or been accepted	Remanded for an evidentiary hearing — court found sufficient indicia of ineffectiveness to warrant further fact-finding
Prejudice standard applicable to each claim	Error or omission must show reasonable probability that outcome would differ	Government argues lack of reasonable probability and overwhelming trial evidence	Court applied standard: no serious prejudice from judge’s conduct or continuance denial; potential prejudice from counsel’s inaction merits hearing

Key Cases Cited

In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133 (due process requires a fair tribunal)
Quercia v. United States, 289 U.S. 466 (judge must not add to or distort evidence)
Allen v. Illinois, 397 U.S. 337 (courtroom control and sanctions for disruptive defendants)
Deck v. Missouri, 544 U.S. 622 (use of physical restraints in courtroom only when justified)
Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (courts must preserve calm and solemnity of proceedings)
Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540 (judicial temperament vs. bias; ordinary sternness permissible)
Dominguez Benitez v. United States, 542 U.S. 74 ("reasonable probability" prejudice standard)
Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374 (duty to examine readily available files the prosecution will rely on)
Ayala-Vazquez, 751 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. standards for judicial conduct and prejudice)
Lanza-Vazquez, 799 F.3d 134 (requires serious prejudice showing for judicial misconduct)
Rivera-Rodríguez, 761 F.3d 105 (judge must avoid appearing partial)
Ofray-Campos, 534 F.3d 1 (judge's intervention to prevent juror confusion permissible)
Rodríguez-Rivera, 473 F.3d 21 (scope of judge's participation in trial)