U.S. Attorney Taylor Argues First D.C. Circuit Case

Interim U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor is not a regular in front of the podium in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Sure, his name is stamped on briefs. But—up until yesterday—he had never argued a case before the federal appeals court.

When Taylor took the floor, he didn’t announce himself as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Maybe he should have. A courthouse flyer listing the cases set for argument identified him as an “AUSA”—an assistant U.S. attorney. The Harvard Law School alum was an AUSA in the late 1990s in the Southern District of California. His bio is here.

Taylor had all the answers and didn’t stumble. There were no long, awkward pauses, and no flipping through court papers. It wasn’t his first time arguing in a federal appeals court—having argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Last year, he argued his first case in the D.C. Court of Appeals.

“The trick is to learn the law, learn the arguments, and master the case as best you can,” says Taylor, who anticipates he will have to leave his post under the Obama administration. “It’s one of those experiences where there is a fair amount of stress before in preparation, but once you are on your feet it’s enjoyable.”

There wasn't much smiling on the bench. Circuit Judges Janice Rogers Brown, Harry Edwards, and Judith Rogers said on the bench they struggled with Thursday's criminal case. Taylor (pictured at left) says he picked the case because he could wrap his arms around it fairly quickly while running the show as the top prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C.

Taylor delved into U.S. v. Henry before the holidays. Roy McLeese III, chief of the appellate division, and Thomas Zeno, the assistant U.S. attorney who handled the trial prosecution, sat with Taylor. Lisa Wright, an assistant federal public defender, represented Ricardo Henry.

At issue on appeal is the extent to which anonymous phone calls can make up an obstruction of justice enhancement for a sentencing guideline. Henry, who ran a health care business, was sentenced in 2007 to 20 months in prison for making a false statement related to business matters.

During the investigation, Henry reportedly called three relatives of the case agent, portraying himself as a Justice Department investigator assigned to a bribery probe involving the agent, who worked for the D.C. Office of the Inspector General. Taylor argued Henry was sending a threatening message to the investigator: don’t mess with me. The agent was removed from the case and did not testify. But Henry's lawyer argued there was never any intent to obstruct the investigation because Henry made the calls anonymously—using a fake name and altering the sound of his voice, among other things, to conceal his identity. In briefs, Wright described the phone calls as petty revenge.

Taylor has been serving as the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the request of the Attorney General. His nomination had been pending in the Senate since February 2007 when he withdrew it last year. Yesterday's case marked the last time Taylor will argue in the D.C. Circuit—at least as interim U.S. Attorney, he says. Taylor smiled as he left court, shaking hands with well-wishers. No departure date has been set and Taylor has not announced private sector plans.

Comments

[DC Lawyer]

Obama should keep him. He has been a real asset to the city.

[Big Fan]

Jeff Taylor has been an excellent USA. He's smart, hard working and class act. He'll land on his feet. It's a shame he was never confirmed by the Senate.