1. Jay Weaver covers Tamika Jasper-Barbary's motion to dismiss by Scott Srebnick before Judge Scola. Looks like she has a good shot to prevail:
Now, her defense attorney says he has uncovered a lack of evidence that could sink the government’s case against her.
The snitch — a convicted trafficker identified only as “L.B.” in the indictment — never testified before a federal grand jury, nor did a panel ever convene to hear his testimony. So, even if Jasper-Barbary had told her husband about L.B., she couldn’t have violated the grand jury’s secrecy or broken any laws, her attorney says.
“I think the government is playing games with this indictment,” Miami attorney Scott Srebnick told U.S. District Judge Robert Scola at a hearing last week. “Now we know there was no Miami grand jury sitting in this case.”
Court documents show prosecutors don’t dispute these facts. They acknowledge that a late November email shows Jasper-Barbary arranged a federal drug agent’s one-on-one interview with L.B. for the following month in a room of the grand jury suite at the downtown Miami federal courthouse.
If there was no grand jury and Jasper-Barbary had no duty of secrecy, then what's the deal:
Srebnick countered that Jasper-Barbary — who made $57,000 a year before her unpaid suspension in January — was not included in the seven categories of people who are obligated under federal law to maintain grand jury secrecy.
“There is no allegation that she or anyone else sought to influence L.B. to provide false evidence to the grand jury, or to avoid the grand jury altogether, or that she intended any harm to L.B,” Srebnick argued in a motion. “The only thing she allegedly did was disclose information, which is not a crime absent a legal duty to maintain secrecy.”
There are also claims of misconduct:
He argued that a Drug Enforcement Administration agent gave “misleading testimony” before a Fort Pierce federal grand jury, which returned the indictment against Jasper-Barbary, her husband and seven others in January. The agent affirmed that the main target of the investigation, Barbary, learned from his wife that Bennett was “being brought before a federal grand jury.”
But that was not the truth, Srebnick argues in court papers, because Bennett was never even scheduled to appear before the grand jury. As a result, the agent’s testimony “infected” the Fort Pierce panel, which proceeded to adopt the “government’s theory” that “Jasper-Barbary joined the drug conspiracies through her alleged obstruction of justice.”
My favorite part of the story:
Agents also found a book in the couple’s home. The title: Busted by the Feds: The Book for Defendants Facing Federal Prosecution.
2. And by the way, in case you didn't see the post from late Friday evening, the JNC cut the judgeship applicants to three:
Robin Rosenberg
William Thomas
John Thornton
All three are state judges and they are all really good. It will be interesting to see who the President selects.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
the coolest past of the book is that it is more expensive used than it is new on amazon.com. i guess it has some real street cred on the black market
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