A former New York physician’s attempt to reverse his guilty plea over a second health-care fraud conviction has been rebuffed by the Second Circuit. The Bloomberg report expressed the details of the case.
Spyros Panos had earlier confessed to the misuse of another doctor’s credentials to deceitfully write reports under the pretence of a licensed doctor, following the surrender of his own license. Panos sought to argue that his counsel carried an unwaivable conflict of interest after the prosecution had levied accusations of exhibiting fabricated potential exhibits for the trial.
Nevertheless, the appeal was dismissed by the Second Circuit, stating that the supposed conflict was a potential one and not an actual one, hence could be waived. Panos was unable to provide any substantive legal references to back his claim stating that a potential situation where an attorney could testify at a hearing involving their client unequivocally creates a per se unwaivable conflict.
Despite his allegations that his former attorney had failed to properly advise him on the plea agreement and that the agreement offered no benefit, the court rebuffed his claims. It held a strong presumption of the lawyer’s representation being within the range of reasonable professional assistance.
The argument of Panos not being given enough time to ponder the risks of his lawyer’s supposed conflict before waiving it didn’t hold ground, as the court pointed out that the record said otherwise. It was noted that Panos was offered “many opportunities” to take more time for considering his options and it was explicitly superimposed that the court was “not in a rush”.
The court rejected Panos’ other challenges, which included claiming that he hadn’t been given an adequate opportunity to express himself. As per his claim, the judge had started pronouncing his sentence prior to giving him an opportunity to speak up. However, the appeals court pointed out that the judge had rectified this error quickly by immediately interrupting himself and inviting the defense counsel to speak.
The case United States v. Panos included Judges Richard C. Wesley, Denny Chin, and Eunice C. Lee in the decision. Spyros Panos was represented by Ezra Spike of Brooklyn, NY.