Opinion
CR-S-19-0159 JAM
12-20-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. TIMOTHY WILSON, Defendant.
SHARI RUSK (SBN 170313) ATTORNEY AT LAW Attorney for Defendant TIMOTHY WILSON
Dated: January 11, 2022
Time: 9:00 a.m.
SHARI RUSK (SBN 170313)
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Attorney for Defendant
TIMOTHY WILSON
APPLICATION AND ORDER FOR APPOINTMENT OF ADDITIONAL COUNSEL
Honorable John A. Mendez Judge.
Defendant, Timothy Wilson, hereby applies for the appointment of additional counsel in the above-entitled case, under Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Guidelines, Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol 7 Defender Services, Part A Guidelines for Administering the CJA and Related Statutes, Chapter 2: Appointment and Payment of Counsel, §230.53.20, which provides in pertinent part:
(a) In an extremely difficult case where the court finds it in the interest of justice to appoint an additional attorney, each attorney is eligible to receive the maximum compensation allowable under the CJA.
(b) The finding of the court that the appointment of an additional attorney in a difficult case was necessary and in the interest of justice must appear on the Order of Appointment.
This case is extremely difficult in terms of the amount of discovery and complexity of the issues. There are over 1400 pages of discovery. Mr. Wilson is a 74 year old man with serious health issues. He has no criminal history. He faces a ten year mandatory miminum charge for growing marijuana on federal land. Marijuana is a multi million industry in California. It is legal to grow cannabis in California, various states in the United States and in many countries worldwide. Federal law may be on the cusp of changing regulations that deem marijuana a Schedule II controlled substance. The Govenment has two attorneys dedicated to this case, as well as their case agents. This demonstrates the complexity of the case. The federal defender's office routinely appoints two attorneys for trial cases. It would be in the interest of justice to appoint a second attorney to assist in the preparation and presentation of the case at trial. I am requesting that the Court appoint CJA panel member Tim Zindel as second counsel to represent Mr. Wilson in this case. He is available to take the appointment and has agreed to do so.
ORDER
Having satisfied the Court that the defendant is financially unable to retain counsel, the Court hereby appoints Tim Zindel as second counsel in the above-captioned matter. The Court further finds that the appointment of an additional attorney in this difficult case is necessary and in the interest of justice.