Med-mal attorney Snyder to represent himself in attempted extortion case
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Indicted medical malpractice attorney Stephen L. Snyder will represent himself at his federal trial on attempted extortion charges. (The Daily Record/File Photo)
GREENBELT — Indicted medical malpractice attorney Stephen L. Snyder agreed to represent himself in his federal attempted extortion case Friday, even as he acknowledged in court that the choice might not serve him well.
Snyder repeatedly inquired about how to apply for a public defender during the same hearing where he said he did not have “any doubt” that he wanted to serve as his own lawyer.
“I’m going to need help,” Snyder repeatedly told U.S. Magistrate Timothy J. Sullivan during Friday’s Faretta hearing, a proceeding where a judge determines whether a defendant can represent himself.
Sullivan, who was at times exasperated during the hearing, pushed back.
“You cannot be your own lawyer and have a lawyer at the same time,” the judge said. “You’ve got to figure out how to get it done.”
Sullivan told Snyder several times that he could submit a financial affidavit and potentially qualify for court-appointed standby counsel. Snyder could also hire help himself, though anyone who worked on the case with him would not be able to represent him in court as long as Snyder is acting as his own attorney.
Near the close of the hearing, Sullivan warned one last time that he did not think it was a good idea for Snyder to represent himself.
“You and everybody else,” Snyder replied.
“The man who represents himself has a fool for a client,” Sullivan said, quoting a well-known legal adage.
Still, Sullivan found Snyder competent to waive his right to counsel and represent himself.
The indictment against Snyder alleges that he attempted to extort the University of Maryland Medical System in 2018 by threatening to go public about problems with their flagship hospital’s organ transplant program if UMMS didn’t agree to a $25 million sham consulting deal.
Snyder couched the consulting agreement as part of a settlement with a woman whose husband allegedly died because of a botched transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Federal prosecutors say that Snyder did not intend to do any work for the money and was simply seeking a payout.
The deal also would have ensured that Snyder was “conflicted out” of future lawsuits against UMMS. Prosecutors said Snyder threatened to publicly expose problems with the medical center’s transplant program, including by going to the news media, if he did not get paid.
Snyder has denied the charges and argued that the consultancy offer was a real effort to reach a deal with UMMS. A motion to dismiss the indictment is pending in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, though it was filed by Snyder’s former legal team.
That legal team, which included storied Baltimore attorney Arnold M. Weiner, withdrew from the case Friday at a sealed proceeding before Snyder’s Faretta hearing. The assistant U.S. attorney handling the case had to leave the courtroom, as did observers, during the attorney inquiry proceeding.
Baltimore defense lawyer Andrew I. Alperstein was also present but did not address the court. He left during Snyder’s Faretta hearing and declined to comment.
Weiner asked to withdraw from the case in March, after Snyder contacted the chambers of the federal judge handling his case, U.S. District Judge George Levi Russell III, in a call that Russell described as “disorganized and emotional.”
The government also previously sought to have Weiner disqualified from the case, though the motion was filed under seal.
“We thank the court for granting our motion to withdraw and wish Mr. Snyder the best in his self-representation,” Weiner said Friday.
Snyder declined to comment.
Friday’s hearing is the first movement in Snyder’s federal case since the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that a pair of law firms that worked with Snyder on the UMMS deal must turn over records in response to grand jury subpoenas.
The ruling was a blow to Snyder, who sought to block subpoenas issued to the two law firms and another lawyer who worked for him. The law firms are not named in the 4th Circuit’s decision because grand jury proceedings take place in secret.
The 4th Circuit rejected the claim that government lawyers abused the grand jury process by issuing the subpoenas. According to the opinion, prosecutors provided a letter indicating that there is an ongoing investigation that could result in additional charges or defendants, though the status of that investigation is unclear.
The 4th Circuit also found that documents related to Snyder’s proposed consultancy with UMMS are not shielded because they were not related to the transplant litigation. Snyder wanted to pursue a consulting deal even before he began representing the woman whose husband had died, the 4th Circuit found.
Snyder is allowed to practice law at the moment. He agreed to a temporary suspension of his law license when he was first indicted, but asked to be able to practice law again as the case dragged on.
In his motion, Snyder said the protracted legal battle forced him to draw on his savings and retirement assets to pay for his defense. He was unable to replenish that money without his law license, he wrote.
Because he has not been convicted of a crime, the Maryland Supreme Court agreed there was no basis to continue the suspension and gave Snyder his law license back.
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