Thursday, April 28, 2011

76ers beat Heat in Game 4!!

The Ministry of Truth U.S. Attorney's Office issued this press release about the cops trial:

"JURY CONVICTS TWO FORMER POLICE OFFICERS IN MORTGAGE FRAUD PROSECUTION"

Really?! How about, after a 9-week trial, 4 of the 6 defendants were found not guilty of all counts?

Nope. The press release says: "Mortgage fraud is a virus that has spread through our community and to all levels of the mortgage industry. We will continue our efforts to combat mortgage fraud at all levels, from straw buyers to complicit lenders."

The USAO isn't supposed to care if it wins or loses. It's supposed to care about Justice. But in recent years, DOJ has really ramped up its spin to the press. I understand wanting to get your side of the story out there, but this seems a bit over the top. No?

16 comments:

My Law License said...

It's pure sleaze. They did the same thing after that mortgage fraud case last year where one or two people were convicted of one count of crap. It's pure spin, well beneath where the office should be, but their response to your argument will be "our press release is accurate." Sad. Pathetic actually.

Anonymous said...

Do you advertise all of the guilty verdicts and pleas involving your clients on your website, or do you post about the not guilty verdicts? Pot meet kettle.

Chef said...

For Immediate Release:

"After a two-month trial, Attorneys Caruso and Flores were victorious in their representation in connection with a 200 million dollar fraud, also known as the Lancer Fund case. The trial was the culmination of years of investigation and millions of dollars in resources.

The United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, is dedicated to the pursuit of those who would rob our nations coffers like those accused in the Lancer Fund case, and want to take this opportunity to congratulate Caruso and Flores on a job well done."

Anonymous said...

d

Anonymous said...

I love the prosecutor making the rascist "pot kettle" comment, openly.

What is the essence of that comment? That each conducts heat? Uh, no.

Sore losers. Its like when prosecutors lose and their lone comment is "you never know what juries might do...."

What, like follow the law? Like find reasonable doubt? Like do their job?

Here's a clue, tough guy: its nto a grand jury. you cant manipulate the facts and the evidecne and the witnesses.

Nothing worse than a prosecutor who impunes a jury and the jury system by calling a jury "stupid," which is what they all do when lose. And boy, is DOJ losing A LOT down here. Just sayin'.

Tannebaum - stop talking about your one trial ever already. you had the mope. you rode the coattails. you smartly said little. enough. Try another case for crissakes.

Otherwise, good comment.

Anonymous said...

U defense lawyers are clowns. Start posting your guilty press releases and then talk.

Rumpole said...

David- you raise an excellent point. The government should not engage in propaganda like that. Only a very few of this community know the real story. Is there a formal complaint that can be filed? How hard would it be to include the information in the acquittals so that the press release was accurate,

Beyond all the BS I engage in, blogs like yours serve a serious purpose to hold the government accountable.

Meanwhile in the comments section on my blog a discussion on the size of women's uhh attributes has broken out.

So keep up the good work.

HR

Anonymous said...

Chef - one ommission:

"THE PROSECUTORS WHO TRIED THE CASE AND LOST WE SHIMKAT AND BLACK JACK PATRICK.'

i love then they put their names in the press release regarding the indictment or guilty plea

but run from associating themselves with the loss

boo hoo

boo

David Oscar Markus said...

Re defense lawyers issuing press releases when their clients are found guilty -- there is an obvious difference. Our job is to represent our clients; to do the best we can for them; to win within the bounds of the law. DOJ's job is supposed to be different. I see no reason why they should be issuing press releases like this one.

My Law License said...

6:59. It's nice to be anonymous, that way you can say anything you want, regardless of truth, remain a coward, and actually think you're anonymous...

Anonymous said...

defense good
doj bad

you have the intellectual consistency of an iranian mullah.

congrats you must be proud of yourself

Anonymous said...

I see no reason why a) you should care or b) expect the doj to issue praiseworthy releases for your work. And no the doj is not different in this or most other respects. They have one exception , which is not to hide contrary evidence or knowingly prosecute an innocent person. That's all. Press releases are not in that realm.

Anonymous said...

"It's pure sleaze." Interesting choice of words, Mr. Tannenbaum. Success in a white-collar case is measured quite differently than success in your run-of-the-mill narcotics case. White-collar cases are notoriously complex, and so for the USAO such an outcome may have met the "success" threshold. That's for them to decide.

Anonymous said...

The sad part is that people who believe that DOJ should send out press releases that don't tell the complete facts of any recent result are the same prosecutors that don't release that exculpatory discovery "because it wasn't really material" to the defense anyway and who believe that suggesting the "right answer" to a snitch as to what "really" happened is permissible to ensure they are telling the truth. Our system is broken.

Anonymous said...

Uh . . . I think your post is a bit unfair. You fail to mention that the last sentence of the first paragraph of the press release specifically mentions the acquittals and the names of the defendants who were acquitted. It states: "The jury found co-defendants Daryl Radziwon, Casey Mittauer Robert DePriest, and Joseph LaGrasta not guilty on all charges." Just saying . . . someone reading your post might think that the USAO did not mention the acquittals at all; that's not the case.

I don't know the answer to this question, but did the DBR offer a counterpoint to your op-ed on discovery practices?

Anonymous said...

Actually, that is the second sentence of the body of the press release. The first two sentences of the press release – to which David provided a link – state:

"Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Amos Rojas, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Miami Field Office, and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, Florida Office of Financial Regulation, announced the conviction of defendants John Velez and Joseph DeRosa, both former City of Plantation police officers, after a 9-week mortgage fraud trial in Fort Lauderdale federal court. The jury found co-defendants Daryl Radziwon, Casey Mittauer Robert DePriest, and Joseph LaGrasta not guilty on all charges."

The answer to Rumpole’s question – “How hard would it be to include the information [about] the acquittals so that the press release was accurate[?]” – should have been evident from the press release. It was not difficult; the acquittals were set forth in the press release. While the deterrent social value of announcing convictions may be a valid subject for debate, the press release was neither inaccurate nor misleading.