Albert Diaz v. United States

When the United States Attorney’s Office designates a person as a “Target,” the person is one “as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who in the judgment of the prosecutor is a putative defendant” as defined in the U.S. Department of Justice, Justice Manual, § 9-11.151. The Petitioner, Diaz, was designated a “Target” by the Assistant United States Attorney in a report that also authorized a putative co-defendant to interview and record Diaz on behalf of the Government to elicit incriminating admissions from him. The question presented in this petition is: Whether the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals correctly held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel does not attach once the United States has focused its case on indicting the person and away from its investigation, but before those planned formal charges have issued, in contradiction with this Court’s holding and three other circuit courts of appeals that have held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel can attach prior to the issuance of formal charges.