Friday, August 31, 2018

How do the Cuban courts work?

Local South Florida prosecutors caught a glimpse during a murder trial.  The whole article is worth a read, but here’s the intro from the Miami Herald:
A witness box occupies the center of the courtroom. Five judges in long black robes listen to testimony. The defendant watches from the front row of the gallery with an armed guard at his side. There is no jury.

This is how justice operates in Cuba’s socialist system. Or at least that is what Florida prosecutors gleaned from a murder trial in Havana that was groundbreaking on several fronts: The star witness was a detective from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office; the defendant was a Cuban national accused of shooting a Jupiter Farms doctor in the head before he fled to the island, and a Florida prosecutor helped prepare the Cuban prosecution team for trial.

“It was fascinating. I was impressed how much it resembled our courtroom process,” said Assistant State Attorney Aleathea McRoberts, who was part of the team that made arrangements for the defendant, Marcos Yanes Gutierrez, to be tried in Cuba and watched the trial from the gallery. “There were opening statements, the presentation of evidence and closing arguments.”

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're missing the point. I case is set for 9. The judges arrive at 10:45 and the rest of the people shortly thereafter. They work for 45 minutes. Go have arroz con pollo for lunch. A large café con leche...BS in the hallways for another hour. Another 45 min of testimony in the afternoon. A few times proceedings are halted as a chicken is chased by a rooster through the courtroom. They go home. Cancel the next day and then resume a few days later. Oye...

Anonymous said...

@12:41, and that's different than state court in Florida how?

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the prosecutor did love the Cuban system.

Anonymous said...

20 year max for murder in Cuba shows how fucked up we are.

Anonymous said...

1234 yes Cuba has a better system and murder is not that bad.

Anonymous said...

You love it so much, you should go live there.

Bob Becerra said...

The only news here is that for some reason, Cuba decided to prosecute this guy in their system. Usually they extradite, or do nothing (most common)

Anonymous said...

re 7:24 is that allowed, or do the feds have a rule against Americans traveling to Cuba?