Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who faces federal criminal charges related to an alleged conspiracy to defraud investors, "has been returned to a lockup after being hospitalized for treatment of a concussion following a jail fight," according to www.nbcdfw.com, an NBC Dallas affiliate's Web site. According to the article, Stanford's court-appointed attorney Kent Schaffer, a partner in Houston's Bires & Schaffer, told the Associated Press on Monday that his client was injured in a fight on Thursday with another inmate at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe near Houston. Schaffer did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment. On Sept. 17, U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas signed an order adding Schaffer to Stanford’s defense team. On Sept. 15, after determining Stanford does not have immediate access to money to pay for lawyers, Hittner granted a motion to allow Dick DeGuerin, a partner in DeGuerin & Dickson of Houston, to withdraw as Stanford’s attorney and then appointed the federal public defender’s office to defend Stanford. In the order appointing Schaffer, Hittner found because this is an “extremely difficult case,” it is necessary to appoint another attorney in the interest of justice.
-- Miriam Rozen
UPDATE: On Sept. 25, Hittner ordered that Stanford be transferred by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Federal Detention Center in downtown Houston no later than Oct. 1. Before the fight, on Sept. 21, Stanford had filed a sealed, ex parte motion seeking to be moved from the Corley Detention Facility in Conroe to the downtown Houston facility pending his trial. On Sept. 25, after the fight, Hittner OK’d the move. In his order, Hittner wrote, “The Court recognizes the extraordinary nature and complexity of this case, the extent and gravity of the charges levied against Stanford, the hundreds of thousands of records involved and the enormous amount of time no doubt necessary to review those documents and adequately prepare a defense. Consequently, the Court determines that because of the unique circumstances present in this case it is appropriate to order Stanford housed at the Federal Detention Center in Houston pending trial to ensure an adequate opportunity for Stanford to review the copious documents, consult his attorneys and prepare his defense.” Schaffer says the judge talked to the prosecutors and they did not object to Stanford’s motion. Alfredo Perez, a deputy U.S. marshal and spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, confirms that on Sept. 24 around 10 a.m. Stanford was involved in what at least amounted to “an altercation” and may have been a more physical fight. The circumstances are still being investigated, Perez says. Stanford was sent to a hospital but he did not sustain any “life-threatening injuries,” Perez says, noting that the hospital kept Stanford longer than required to make sure, given his history of medical problems, that he went back to prison with “a clean bill of health.” Schaffer says his client has two black eyes and a broken nose. He says he met with Stanford today and his client seems OK. “These kinds of problems happen in jail all the time,” Schaffer says. Angela Dodd, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, refers calls to the Marshals Service spokesman.
-- Miriam Rozen
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