United States v. Culbertson, No. 09-0485-cr (2d Cir. March 10, 2010) (Miner, Cabranes, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ)
Defendant Troy Culbertson, acting pro se, moved in the circuit for poor person’s relief and for appointment of counsel to pursue an interlocutory appeal of the district court’s orders (1) denying his speedy trial motion, (2) refusing to appoint him new counsel, and (3) denying his request for a psychiatric evaluation. Noting that the appealability of these last two orders presented questions of first impression in the Second Circuit, the court found that none of the orders was “final” and dismissed the appeal.
By way of background, Culbertson was arrested at the airport, where he met up with a known drug courier. He was detained and within a month went through three appointed attorneys. After his arraignment, he filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictment on speedy trial grounds, which the court …