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 Attorney
Appearing 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 Building
Buffalo, New York 14202
(716) 853-5600

Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography,

transcript produced by computer.
 Proceedings 2

1 THE CLERK: Criminal Case 2009-121, USA versus Shane

2 Buczek.

3 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Good morning, Your Honor.

4 THE COURT: Good morning, Ms. Baumgarten. How are

5 you?

6 MS. BAUMGARTEN: I'm well, thank you, Judge.

7 THE COURT: Mr. Comerford, good morning.

8 MR. COMERFORD: Good morning, Your Honor.

9 THE COURT: Mr. Shane Buczek.

10 THE DEFENDANT: I just want to start off that I'm

11 reserving all my rights today by crossing into the Bar. As you

12 are quite aware, I had a couple filings that I filed yesterday.

13 THE COURT: Well, the only one I know about is the

14 motion for recusal.

15 THE DEFENDANT: There's something much more important

16 than that, Judge.

17 THE COURT: Well, that's all I have so I'm going to

18 proceed and whatever it is, it will surface, I'm sure.

19 THE DEFENDANT: I do want to make the Court aware that

20 I did file -- as a third-party plaintiff in this case, I did

21 file a counterclaim on Case Number 09-cr-121. It's seven pages

22 long. I made it very short and brief and cut all the clutter

23 and riffraff out and got right to the point.

24 Also, I put a petition in for a complete dismissal

25 based on the ratification and commencement and no controversy

 Proceedings 3

1 present in front of the Court, pursuant to the Constitution, the

2 New York Constitution and also the Seventh Amendment that we

3 talked about last time dating back to the transcripts on

4 January 14th of 2010. And I have that as an exhibit.

5 And I also typed up an order granting petition for

6 lack of ratification, commencement, and no controversy,

7 dismissing all charges in Case Number 09-cr-121. I think it's

8 121, right?

9 THE COURT: It is the trial case and that's the one

10 that you should be concentrating on because that's the one set

11 for trial on Tuesday. There will be a final pretrial conference

12 on Monday at 10:00 -- or final status conference.

13 I'm going to go through a checklist because you need

14 to be ready.

15 Did you receive all those filings, Ms. Baumgarten?

16 MS. BAUMGARTEN: I did not, Your Honor. I was aware

17 that a motion for recusal had been filed. I did not actually

18 receive a copy of it, Your Honor. Of course we would object to

19 that and oppose it, Your Honor.

20 THE COURT: As what? Untimely or other grounds or

21 both?

22 MS. BAUMGARTEN: All of that, Your Honor. I'm

23 anticipating. I don't know, not having reviewed all of the

24 documentation, and that in part it's based on a recusal not

25 personally directed to Assistant Attorney Generals, but the

 Proceedings 4

1 entirety of the office.

2 THE COURT: All right. So probably what you should do

3 is take a look at those motions. You're going to be trying this

4 case. Mr. Bruce can respond to those motions and I'll wait for

5 his response but we will proceed in terms of getting prepared

6 for trial.

7 I just want to go through my checklist here,

8 Mr. Buczek. I do have the Government's questions with respect

9 to voir dire. You know what that is. That's jury selection.

10 And I don't know if you're going to present any

11 questions. It's really late now, but whatever you might give to

12 me, I'll take a look at it as long as I get it by that final

13 status conference at 10:00 on Monday.

14 I take it the Government submitted everything it

15 intends to submit on voir dire?

16 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Correct, Your Honor.

17 THE COURT: As far as the jury instructions, we appear

18 to be set, both sides on that. As far as the witness list is

19 concerned, I think you have four live witnesses, Ms. Baumgarten?

20 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Your Honor, there may be an

21 additional witness. That would be Scott Kawski from the United

22 States Probation Office.

23 I have forwarded over a stipulation to defense counsel

24 for review to determine whether or not he could also agree to

25 that stipulation and the fact that the Defendant was actually on
 Proceedings 5

1 release at the time the alleged offense occurred, Your Honor.

2 I am trying to avoid calling that witness if possible.

3 THE COURT: Okay. We will wait on that. But you are

4 on notice that that may be the case.

5 I'm going to go through this checklist and then you

6 can make your comments at the appropriate time, Mr. Buczek. If

7 you have information on what you are going to submit, then let

8 me know.

9 As far as a witness list, are you going to submit a

10 witness list?

11 THE DEFENDANT: That's the whole thing. I really want

12 to get to that issue, but my main issue right now is, not even

13 the controversy at this point, with the representation of the

14 Western District of New York. Because the rule clearly shows

15 that they can't even represent -- anybody from that office and

16 you are aware of the conflict of interest. But that's not my

17 issue right now.

18 My main issue is finding out where in the world is the

19 controversy at? Where is the ratification and commencement at?

20 Where is the -- I believe it's call a charging, accusatory

21 instrument for my inspection? And let the record reflect there

22 is none.

23 THE COURT: No, there is. We talked about that.

24 THE DEFENDANT: It's just like the mortgages. They

25 sell the mortgages on the market, they're gone. Just like this
 Proceedings 6

1 case too. So I need to see that so I can proceed, Judge.

2 THE COURT: Okay, Mr. Buczek, we've talked about that.

3 You don't agree and probably you can raise those on appeal,

4 those issues, I don't know. But you are the subject, as you

5 know, of an indictment.

6 THE DEFENDANT: Well, I don't consent to that.

7 THE COURT: No, you don't have to. And I understand.

8 Your position is you're not consenting to the instrument, to the

9 charge. You've signed certain documents as, I am me, I think.

10 I understand all of that but --

11 THE DEFENDANT: I know you do. And I don't mean to

12 get you, I don't want to say upset, ticked off, whatever.

13 I'm just here as a living, breathing man. I'm not a

14 corporate entity. I never will be, not in this lifetime anyway.

15 And I'm here to close all matters. And I believe the background

16 of this case has been closed and settled and it has been closed

17 and settled for a very long time.

18 THE COURT: Yeah, but unfortunately the system works

19 differently. In your mind, it's closed and settled. It's

20 really not as far as the system is concerned. So that's maybe

21 where your opening is.

22 And I'm not upset, and I'm not ticked off or anything

23 like that, but we do have to proceed in a fashion that's

24 consistent with the rules. And that's what I explained to you

25 the last time you were in Court. And they are the Rules of the
 Proceedings 7

1 Court, not your rules. But nevertheless, you are bound by them

2 even though you take the position you are not subject to the

3 jurisdiction.

4 THE DEFENDANT: Well, you know, the thing is I'm not

5 in the military. I'm definitely not a United States employee.

6 I'm a civilian. I'm a live man on the land. I know it sounds

7 kind of crazy because a lot of people here don't understand what

8 I'm talking about.

9 I'm definitely not a corporate entity and I made that

10 perfectly clear with all my recordings that I've recorded. And

11 Judge Schroeder is very aware of that too. Last I checked, I

12 had blood in my body.

13 I don't know how you feel as a live man, not the

14 Court. I'm talking to you as man to man, that we have blood in

15 our body. And I'm a living, breathing man and the Defendant is

16 actually -- in reality is dead.

17 THE COURT: Whatever -- how that relates to what we're

18 doing right now, that remains to be seen. But what I'm going to

19 do is after we get through this checklist, I'm going to issue a

20 decision that relates to some of the motions that you have made.

21 That will give you a little bit more of a roadmap as

22 to what will be permissible at trial. So try to focus on that

23 and you can do your other thing in supplement. But you need to

24 at least have the framework, a starting point, a basis. And

25 that's what I think the decision will give you. Some motions
 Proceedings 8

1 you prevail on, some you don't. So we will go through all of

2 that.

3 All right. So right now, we don't have an exhibit

4 list. We don't have any expert witnesses that will be

5 testifying as far as I know.

6 MS. BAUMGARTEN: That is correct, Your Honor.

7 THE COURT: Okay. You've made available 36, 3500

8 exhibits?

9 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Right, Judge.

10 THE COURT: They've been given to Mr. Comerford and

11 Mr. Buczek?

12 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Just Mr. Comerford, Your Honor. I

13 have been providing things to him. It is my understanding he

14 has been providing them to Mr. Buczek.

15 THE COURT: And that's correct, Mr. Comerford?

16 MR. COMERFORD: Judge, I provided Mr. Buczek with a

17 copy of the discovery in this case, 09-CR-121, which I think it

18 included the 3500 material, the exhibits we are talking about.

19 THE CLERK: He should have for trial, though, a copy

20 of the marked exhibits.

21 MR. COMERFORD: We don't have that, Judge.

22 MS. BAUMGARTEN: We will get them the correct ones,

23 Judge.

24 THE COURT: You should get those forthwith so

25 Mr. Buczek has time to review them. And put them in a binder
 Proceedings 9

1 and get them set up.

2 MS. BAUMGARTEN: I will, Your Honor.

3 THE COURT: I have your pretrial memo with respect to

4 the case. And I've read that and I've gone through it. And

5 there is a response to it, so for all practical purposes, we're

6 together.

7 Statement of the case, I will make the presentation

8 with respect to the statement of the case for purposes of jury

9 selection. The verdict form? I don't have a special verdict

10 form. I think the Government's position is that a special

11 verdict form is not necessary.

12 MS. BAUMGARTEN: It may be, Judge, if we are unable to

13 resolve the issue with respect to the Defendant being on

14 supervised release, Your Honor. I think it may be appropriate

15 to have a special verdict on that issue. But as I said earlier,

16 we are attempting to resolve that.

17 THE COURT: Okay. We're holding that in abeyance

18 right now.

19 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Yes, Your Honor. I do not expect it

20 will be difficult.

21 THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I do have one more thing that I

22 probably --

23 THE COURT: Give me a chance to get through two more

24 points, that will take care of my list. And then we will issue

25 a statement on what the decisions are as far as the motions and

 Proceedings 10

1 then I'll let you make your points, Mr. Buczek.

2 There are no stipulations that have been entered into

3 up to this point in time, is that right?

4 MS. BAUMGARTEN: That is correct.

5 THE COURT: You know what stipulations are, they're

6 agreements.

7 THE DEFENDANT: I have a rough idea. Can you do a

8 little bit of a clarification on that?

9 THE COURT: Well, it boils down to you agreeing with

10 the Government as to an established fact or what may be

11 competent evidence. You can talk with Mr. Comerford a little

12 bit about whether or not that can be entered into. That may

13 help both sides in this case, I don't know.

14 THE DEFENDANT: I have no problems with agreeing with

15 everything. I've been very accommodating for going on two

16 years. I'll consent to anything, but I can't do that until I

17 see the original charging instrument, the ratification and

18 commencement.

19 Judge, what would you do if you were in my shoes right

20 now? Wouldn't you want to know? Who did I injure? Where's the

21 ratification? I mean, this is in their own rules. I'm not

22 blind, I can read it. I now understand the difference between

23 solvent and insolvent, in 1933, and the silver and the gold, and

24 getting back to the controversy, and you know and I know, there

25 is none.
 Proceedings 11

1 THE COURT: No, that's mischaracterizing what I've

2 said because I have said that the accusatory instrument in this

3 case, the indictment, does establish a controversy for purposes

4 of proceeding in a criminal case.

5 I know you don't agree with that, but again, we must

6 proceed on the basis of the Rules of Court. And those are

7 specific. Again, they may not be your rules, but the way I'm

8 looking at this, Mr. Buczek, at this point preserving your

9 rights to appeal, you must abide by the Rules of Court, the

10 Rules of Evidence and the Rules of Procedure.

11 That's what we talked about the other day. We have

12 talked about it countless times. So we have to work in that

13 fashion.

14 I'm going to get to the Motions in Limine, which are

15 your series of motions. But I'm going to give you a chance

16 before I give you my opinion. That's what I said, on some

17 issues, you win. On some issues, you lose. Some are a little

18 bit of both, but before I get to do them, I know you had some

19 matters to say as far as the items that I go on to.

20 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, there is. I just want to put on

21 the record, that's all, on for the record, in my opinion, there

22 seems to be no valid accusatory instrument. I've been here,

23 Judge, under threat and duress going on two and a half years

24 now. There is no contract present in front of the Court,

25 there's no meeting of the minds of anything.

 Proceedings 12

1 And I really want to be done with this issue. And I

2 just can't find a valid claim in front of me. I think I

3 mentioned this before --

4 THE COURT: Let me just interrupt. You have a copy of

5 the indictment. That is the valid claim for purposes of this

6 trial, the first of three cases.

7 THE DEFENDANT: Aren't copies just hearsay?

8 THE COURT: This is not a hearsay document. This is

9 the product of a Grand Jury action and that is the charge that

10 you face in connection with your case here.

11 I'm not going to get into any more discussion than

12 that. But just so you know, that's the way that the proceeding

13 must go forward on the basis of the charge brought -- after

14 return of the Federal Grand Jury.

15 THE DEFENDANT: One more thing. You probably already

16 know about this from Judge Schroeder, but Registered Mail number

17 RR 353687187 US, I indemnified the entire case way back in

18 August and I got a warrant issued out for me for doing this.

19 And I was incarcerated for seven days. And I believe it's the

20 notice of international -- I believe it was an indemnity bond

21 for 500 million.

22 You're aware of that, right? I just want it on the

23 record. That way there's some kind of insurance policy out for

24 me. And I took a look at Fidelity and I seen three of these

25 cases floating around.

 Proceedings 13

1 THE COURT: Is that the bonded note that you're

2 talking about or is that something else?

3 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I am. I'm sure you're aware of

4 that, right?

5 THE COURT: I am.

6 THE DEFENDANT: Okay. And also, I did some research

7 on three of these cases that are being traded on the market

8 right now with Fidelity. And I just want to let you know on the

9 record, I'm not for sale, Judge. I'll make that clear.

10 THE COURT: Fair enough. And again, as you know, I

11 can't give you legal advice. I really am a neutral person that

12 has to decide the proper issues that come before me or at least

13 decide the issues in a proper fashion.

14 In your best interest, because the Rules of Court and

15 Procedure and Evidence will apply, you need to get yourself

16 ready for trial starting next week. That means you have to

17 prepare your defense or prepare to counter the Government's

18 case.

19 Now, here's the decision that I will issue that are

20 controlling for purposes of the trial and it's with respect to

21 the Government's Motions in Limine and yours.

22 The Government charges you with, in this case,

23 09-criminal-121, with committing bank fraud in violation of

24 Section 1344 of the Criminal Code, between September 18, 2008

25 and January 16th, 2009.

 Proceedings 14

1 And that's in connection with, as you know, the

2 allegations related to purchases through HSBC of electronic

3 equipment from Best Buy. And I'm going to get right to the

4 rulings because you are all familiar with the issues raised in

5 the motions.

6 The Government moves to preclude you from presenting

7 any evidence of reference to, and I quote, "tax protestor" or,

8 and I quote again, "redemption theories" related to the Federal

9 Government's taxing power or the existence of secret bank

10 accounts held by the Federal Government for each citizen of the

11 United States. You have filed documents consistent with these

12 theories in these and other proceedings, and I'm going to grant

13 the Government's motion for the most part.

14 First, I note that Mr. Comerford has indicated in his

15 responding papers that you do not intend to introduce a defense

16 based on these theories. And I am unsure whether that is still

17 the case but, in any event, I will preclude the introduction of

18 evidence or references to these particular theories.

19 First, the theories largely purport to be statements

20 of law. Instructing the jury on the correct law is my task. It

21 doesn't become a task of the parties or the lawyers.

22 Second, those theories are incorrect and I will not

23 permit the jury to be mislead.

24 And third, I find that the introduction of those

25 theories would confuse the jury and distract them from the
 Proceedings 15

1 issues at hand, which is whether the Government can prove your

2 guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That's the proof standard.

3 The burden is on the Government, not on you.

4 So any evidence, testimony, and witnesses offered

5 solely for the purpose of relying on the theories I mentioned,

6 to the jury, my decision is that that evidence will be precluded

7 as will the theories.

8 That being said, Mr. Buczek, you will be permitted to

9 offer evidence and testimony concerning willfulness. And listen

10 to this. You're permitted to do this because willfulness is an

11 essential element of the crime charged. That is, you are

12 entitled to present evidence or argue that you had a good faith

13 misunderstanding of what the law required.

14 To that extent, the tax protestor or redemption

15 theories are relevant on that issue. And I will allow such

16 evidence or argument, but I will monitor that very, very

17 carefully. And the opportunity for introducing the theories on

18 the basis is narrow and it's limited.

19 But Mr. Buczek, you cannot introduce evidence or argue

20 that you disagree with the law, that the law is wrong or

21 invalid, that it is unconstitutional, or that there is some

22 other flaw in the law based on the tax protestor or redemption

23 theories that you have raised in the past.

24 Should you make any attempt to introduce these

25 theories, I will instruct the jury to disregard the testimony or

 Proceedings 16

1 statement. And if it persists, I will have to admonish you in

2 front of the jury, which I don't think is in your best interest

3 or anybody's best interest.

4 Further, the Government requests that I preclude

5 documents that may be offered by you, including documents and

6 materials that you may have created. I don't have those

7 documents before me, nor do I know what you intend to introduce

8 because I don't have an exhibit list or the exhibits similar to

9 the ones that the Government describes. So I will handle any

10 objections to documents at the time that they may be proffered.

11 You are on notice, however, that documents relating to

12 tax protestor or redemption theories will not be accepted into

13 evidence unless it is demonstrated that they bear directly on

14 the issue of willfulness or another material issue in this

15 trial. This ruling also applies to the Government's request to

16 preclude the introduction of Court opinions, statutes, and

17 Government regulations. I will handle the Government's

18 objection if and when such testaments are proffered.

19 Finally, the Government requests that I preclude you

20 from asking examination questions that would require a fact

21 witness to give a legal opinion. Eliciting a legal opinion

22 would be improper. But again, in the absence here of an

23 articulated question or line of questioning, it is difficult for

24 me to rule. So you are advised I will instruct the jury on the

25 law and will not permit witnesses to testify about the state of
 Proceedings 17

1 the law or what they think the law should be. That's dealing

2 with the Government's Motion in Limine.

3 Let me move on to yours. Because you filed a Motion

4 in Limine on January 4th of this year, at that time, you were

5 represented by Mr. Comerford. He's now your standby counsel. I

6 don't have a response from the Government to that. But you

7 moved to preclude the Government from referring to you as a tax

8 protestor or introducing evidence concerning your tax protestor

9 or redemption beliefs. Because this is not a tax case and tax

10 protestor-type statements will be introduced into the trial only

11 on a limited bases, if at all, I'm going to grant your motion.

12 At this time, I see no reason why the Government would

13 need to refer to you as a tax protestor. Moreover, for the

14 reasons I've already articulated, evidence concerning tax

15 protestor or redemption beliefs will be precluded.

16 And finally, Mr. Buczek, you asked me that the

17 Government be precluded from referring to the fact that you have

18 two other criminal cases pending in this court. Those cases, as

19 I see it, are unrelated to the present bank fraud prosecution,

20 so I'm going to grant your motion in that regard.

21 So as to both requests I just granted, you,

22 Mr. Buczek, are on notice that I will provide the Government an

23 opportunity to introduce evidence if you open the door. For

24 example, if you argue or attempt to elicit testimony concerning

25 pending cases against you, you will have opened the door for the
 Proceedings 18

1 Government introducing evidence on that subject.

2 So you have to be cautious in that regard. Know what

3 you are doing, consult with Mr. Comerford, work on your

4 preparations because you will be held accountable for your

5 conduct at trial based on the Rules of Evidence and Procedure

6 that apply to Court proceedings in the normal course. And those

7 are my rulings.

8 Do you understand them?

9 THE DEFENDANT: Judge, may I make a comment first?

10 THE COURT: Do you understand that? As far as what

11 I've said, do you understand that?

12 THE DEFENDANT: I heard what you said.

13 THE COURT: You may not disagree (sic) with it, but

14 you understand it, right?

15 THE DEFENDANT: I don't want to understand it because

16 I don't comprehend it, I guess, because there's a lot of things

17 that you said -- and I'm not a licensed attorney and I know the

18 U.S. Attorney's Office has some issues with me based on my

19 personal belief system. And I strongly feel that -- I'm trying

20 to see how this case can go forward. I don't know how it is,

21 but it is.

22 And the reason why I bring that up is there's been a

23 huge mistake. And there's been no proper notice. And

24 there's been -- I see no controversy present in front of the

25 Court and I made that perfectly clear in a very short one and a
 Proceedings 19

1 half page petition that I filed yesterday.

2 THE COURT: The fact of the matter is, that's old

3 news, that's history. I've already discussed that with you.

4 THE DEFENDANT: I know.

5 THE COURT: So it's done. It's fait accompli. It's

6 over. Can we move forward?

7 As far as the bench decision, Mr. Comerford, at least

8 in your backup role capacity, you understand what I did

9 articulated?

10 MR. COMERFORD: Yes, Judge.

11 Judge, I apologize for interrupting. I have one

12 scheduling matter I wanted to ask the Court about.

13 THE COURT: Sure.

14 MR. COMERFORD: The morning of Wednesday, March 3rd,

15 which would be the day after we're scheduled to pick a jury, I

16 have a personal commitment that morning that I have been unable

17 to the move.

18 I asked the Government if they would object to going

19 down for that morning and they have no problem with it. If

20 that's still the case, I just want to know if that's possible.

21 I would appreciate it.

22 THE COURT: Yes, I think we can work that out, start

23 at 2:00 maybe?

24 MR. COMERFORD: That would be great, Judge. Thank

25 you.
 Proceedings 20

1 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Your Honor, when we do jury selection

2 on Tuesday, should we be prepared to have opening statements?

3 THE COURT: Yes, and proof, if we have time.

4 MS. BAUMGARTEN: The other thing, You Honor, it would

5 be required for the Government, as I stated earlier, as part of

6 the stipulation to establish that the Defendant was on release

7 as part of it. It's an enhancement, Your Honor.

8 If we can't reach a stipulation with respect to it, I

9 think I would have to in some way not refer to the specifics of

10 why he was on release but that he was under supervision. That's

11 why the Government would have to call Mr. Kawski as a witness if

12 we can't come to an agreement and read the stipulation on that.

13 THE COURT: Why don't you work on that with, first,

14 Mr. Buczek and, in connection with Mr. Buczek, Mr. Comerford and

15 then we will finally discuss it on Monday at 10:00.

16 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Thank you, Judge.

17 THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I know you are referring to me

18 by calling me Buczek. And I want to make a record. I don't

19 consent to the last name. Just a record of it, okay? Because

20 I'm a living, breathing man and I don't like to be putting

21 titles on me.

22 There are more things I want to say but the things I

23 want to say should be held in Chambers.

24 THE COURT: And you know I can't do that, right?

25 THE DEFENDANT: I know that, but I do want to make a

 Proceedings 21

1 record of it. Because there are so many things I would like to

2 talk about because I found, you know, with the case, you know,

3 the Fidelity and being sold and the bid bond, performance bond,

4 that's something I can talk about here, because I do know about

5 it.

6 And that stuff, if it ever gets to it, it would be

7 done in Chambers. And I will not bring it up. I tried to do

8 that once before and I went to a psych center.

9 THE COURT I think what you've done is made your

10 record. And I think the record's also clear that I cannot have

11 conversations with just one party.

12 THE DEFENDANT: I clearly know that and the

13 U.S. Attorney is welcome to be there, but fictitious allegations

14 and all those things, you don't talk about? Title 18. And it's

15 not really kind of a good thing to do.

16 THE COURT: Well, as you know from my decisions,

17 certain things are relevant, certain things are not. But with

18 respect to issues that relate to your intent, that's where you

19 have a little bit of license. But you're going to need some

20 guidance, I think, from Mr. Comerford so you can know how you

21 can channel your proof.

22 You have no burden, remember that. You have no burden

23 to do anything. You're presumed innocent. And by the

24 Government, I mean the United States represented here by

25 Ms. Baumgarten and backed up by Mr. Bruce, I don't know exactly

 Proceedings 22

1 what he does. In any event, Ms. Baumgarten will be handling the

2 main trial load and she'll be representing the United States.

3 And that will be the party that has the full burden of

4 proof beyond a reasonable doubt on each essential element of the

5 crime charged. And you are innocent until proven guilty.

6 You understand that, right?

7 THE DEFENDANT: The thing is I also want to make it

8 clear to the Court, I am the third-party plaintiff in this case.

9 And I did file a counterclaim, which I thought you would take a

10 look at. And I rushed down here as quick as I could yesterday

11 because the door just opened, so for -- remember the door has

12 been shut for me from August all the way until Friday. The

13 door's been closed for me to file things. But for a brief

14 moment, we were allowed to file one document.

15 THE COURT: No, no, that's not exactly right. But in

16 any event, there is no counterclaim opportunity in a criminal

17 case. This is not a civil action. This is a criminal action so

18 whatever you have in mind by way of filing countercharges or

19 claims, that's not proper by way of Criminal Procedure.

20 THE DEFENDANT: I'm not here to debate it. I just

21 want you to hopefully make a ruling on that because, in my

22 opinion, we are still on the civil side because the criminal

23 side hasn't been crossed over. Because what? There's no

24 injured party.

25 And you know how I feel is that how in the world can
 Proceedings 23

1 you be charged for bank fraud when there's no banks? You know

2 banks don't loan money. Gold and silver is lawful money under

3 Article 1, Section 10. And you can only go to a jury trial or

4 trial by jury for a controversy exceeding $20. We have no

5 dollars.

6 THE COURT: This is a criminal case. You have filed

7 things or have attempted to. I don't have them all. But I

8 guess Mr. Bruce is going to make a submission for the Government

9 on those.

10 So I think that puts us in a position where we will

11 see everybody here on Monday at 10:00.

12 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Judge, if I just may update the Court

13 briefly on the status. I have been engaging in discussions

14 with Mr. Comerford and we have made some progress, but obviously

15 not fully. So should that change, Your Honor, I suggest

16 Mr. Comerford and I could notify your Chambers?

17 THE COURT: Certainly.

18 THE DEFENDANT: That's concerning the plea, right?

19 THE COURT: I assume that's what we're talking about?

20 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Yes, it would not just be only with

21 respect to this case, but all three, Your Honor.

22 THE DEFENDANT: I have no issues with that, Judge.

23 The only issue I have was the felony.

24 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Judge, we can talk about this

25 privately if that might be more suitable. I will take the

 Proceedings 24

1 opportunity to meet with -- if we may, out of the Court's

2 presence?

3 THE COURT: I think that's a good idea and you can

4 address the full panoply of issues, including reservations of

5 rights and everything else that you might have to factor in

6 here.

7 Keep me updated because there's a great expense,

8 there's a lot of time that's involved in this. And very

9 honestly, just think about what's in the absolute best interest.

10 Principle is recognizable. I acknowledge what principle is all

11 about. But remember that when you look to resolve the matter,

12 sometimes the compromise is maybe not the principle itself, but

13 the exposure that you make. And that's really what we are

14 talking about. So principle is principle, I believe that.

15 THE DEFENDANT: Judge, I come in peace. The last

16 thing I want to do is argue with Mr. Bruce and jump up and down

17 screaming and say, your warrant's invalid and I believe in this

18 and that. That's the last thing I want to do.

19 THE COURT: You would never convince him in a million

20 years.

21 THE DEFENDANT: I know. And I unfortunately have met

22 with him in his office and we've talked and he doesn't agree

23 with me, but that's fine. I just want to let you know, I'm

24 coming here in peace. And I did not want to file that case, by

25 the way. And I had to. I didn't want to do that.

 Proceedings 25

1 THE COURT: I've never viewed it any other way. You

2 come here in peace, but you've got your own "piece" to say,

3 right? So continue on, work -- you know, work with

4 Mr. Comerford and Ms. Baumgarten. And then whatever we have to

5 do, we'll start on Monday.

6 THE DEFENDANT: If it does go to trial and it gets to

7 that point, I do want to put my mom and dad on the stand. But,

8 unfortunately, they're not going to be here, so I don't know how

9 we're going to work that out because we did talk about that a

10 couple weeks ago in court. And to me, that's vitally important

11 for the Defendant.

12 THE COURT: Well, I guess we'll address that when the

13 time comes, Mr. Buczek. But they have been on notice, as you

14 have, for a long time when this trial is set to go.

15 There are so many flexibilities that I have in

16 connection with this trial. I know, Mrs. Buczek, you asked the

17 other day because you have a vacation or something scheduled.

18 MRS. BUCZEK: We're out for business, Judge.

19 THE COURT: Let's see how the case progresses and if

20 it becomes necessary, we will talk about things once again. And

21 we will be as flexible as we possibly can to make sure that both

22 sides are treated fairly.

23 Right now, we'll see you at 10:00 on March 1st.

24 THE DEFENDANT: One more thing, Judge? As you know,

25 these are all my documents.

 Proceedings 26

1 THE COURT: I don't know that, Mr. Buczek.

2 THE DEFENDANT: I got them all authenticated.

3 Remember I talked about a certified copy? This is a certified

4 copy here, the red seal.

5 THE COURT: Is that the same thing as a bonded copy,

6 in your mind?

7 THE DEFENDANT: This is the original with the raised

8 seal. I just want to make a record of it, that's all. By the

9 way, I did surrender the Defendant back in the summertime, the

10 birth certificate. You know all about that, right?

11 THE COURT: I don't know if I know about everything,

12 but I know about a lot.

13 THE DEFENDANT: Thank you, Judge.

14 MS. BAUMGARTEN: Thank you, Judge.

15 THE COURT: Work hard.

16 (Proceedings concluded at 10:49 a.m.)

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 1 "I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the

2 record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter."

4 Patricia A. Galas June 10, 2010

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