US: Will Rudy Kurniawan Find a New Lawyer?

(WineSpectator) - Accused wine counterfeiter Rudy Kurniawan and his lawyer may soon be parting ways. After meeting privately today with Kurniawan and defense attorney Michael Proctor, Judge Richard Berman returned to his lower Manhattan federal courtroom and set another conference for July 17, saying, "There may very well be a substitute counsel at that conference. That's my expectation." It was not revealed who will replace Proctor, a Los Angeles–based lawyer who has represented Kurniawan since shortly after his arrest by FBI agents on March 9, 2012, at his home in Arcadia, Calif. Tension between Kurniawan and Proctor has been brewing for at least a month. On Monday, Judge Berman noted that at a conference on June 11, there had been "some issues between Mr. Kurniawan and defense counsel," and asked Proctor where matters stood. "What I can say in open court is that it's unfortunate that facts and circumstances haven't changed," Proctor said. Asked if the issues with his client were strategic or financial, Proctor told Unfiltered, "If I answered you, I could be disbarred." At Monday's court session, the judge summoned a so-called "CJ" lawyer to possibly represent Kurniawan. Under the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, the federal courts can appoint a volunteer lawyer to represent a defendant who cannot afford private counsel. Looking sternly at Kurniawan, the judge said, "One has to swear under penalty of perjury that one doesn't have the resources to maintain one's own counsel [to obtain representation by a CJ attorney]. That's a serious commitment to make." Kurniawan apparently took that warning to heart, as the CJ lawyer designated by the judge, Dawn Cardi, will not be representing him at next week's conference.

Bringing on a new defense lawyer could imperil Kurniawan's trial date, set for Sept. 9. The prosecution is anxious to keep that date. It hopes to bring three top Burgundian winemakers to New York to testify at the trial. Due to a projected late harvest this year, the three—Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Christian Roumier of Domaine Roumier and Laurent Ponsot of Domaine Ponsot—have said they can be on hand to testify in early September, but their winemaking duties will likely not permit them to come later. In that case, video testimony would be substituted, which the prosecution prefers not to do. Lead prosecutor Jason Hernandez told the judge, "We encourage your honor to keep this [Sept. 9] trial date, because the alternatives are pretty grim."