Which one doesn't belong?

The Federalist Society is having a panel looking back at the last ten years after September 11, 2001. On the panel: Wilfredo Ferrer, Jeff Sloman, Alex Acosta, Marcos Jimenez, Guy Lewis and Michael Caruso.

Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta writes letter about Jeffrey Epstein deal and Roy Black responds

Wow, this is getting ugly.

The Daily Beast broke the story here.

And one of Epstein's lawyers, Roy Black, has responded to Acosta's letter (page 1, and page 2, and page 3 here) in the Palm Beach Daily News.

Both letters are truly remarkable, and I've never seen anything like it. From the PBDN:

Attorney Roy Black is disputing claims that he, and other attorneys representing Jeffrey Epstein, pried into federal prosecutors’ personal lives in attempting to disqualify them from investigating the billionaire sex offender. Black also denies Epstein’s attorneys “negotiated in bad faith,” while attempting to reach an agreement with federal prosecutors. *** According to Acosta, now dean of the Florida International University College of Law, federal prosecutors and agents met with Black in the summer of 2007. The prosecutors presented Epstein a choice: plead guilty to state felony charges resulting in two years imprisonment, registration as a sex offender and restitution for the victims or prepare for a federal felony trial. What followed, Acosta said, was that Epstein’s defense team launched “a yearlong assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors. “I use the word assault intentionally, as the defense in this case was more aggressive than any which I, or the prosecutors in my office, had previously encountered,” Acosta said in his letter. Among the “legal superstars” on Epstein’s defense team: Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, Jay Lefkowitz and several others, including prosecutors who had formally worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department. Acosta said that one member of the defense team warned him “the office’s excess zeal in forcing a good man to serve time in jail might be the subject of a book if we continued to proceed with this matter.” Black said he’s never heard anyone mention writing a book about the Epstein case. “Mr. Acosta claims we negotiated in bad faith by appealing to the Department of Justice in Washington,” Black said. “Any person under investigation by a United States attorney, meaning any of the 94 such offices in the country, has the right to seek review by the Department of Justice and it is so provided for in their manual. Thus I cannot imagine invoking this right could be construed as bad faith. “In our system of justice, people are given the right of appeal and there should be no implication of wrong doing by exercising it. “Finally Mr. Acosta mentions we looked for personal peccadilloes of prosecutors,” Black said. “I am not sure what he refers to but this never happened. We did point out misconduct and over-reaching by certain people involved in the investigation. Not only is there nothing wrong with this but it is a necessary part of the process. There will always be people who abuse the great power of the government and we can not stand by silently when it occurs.”

Dean Alex Acosta

Dore Louis is tall.

Here are the pictures from the FACDL banquet which took place a few weeks back, where Judge Hoeveler was honored. (So were the Liberty City lawyers and Ben Brummer). Hector Flores is the new president. And at the link, you'll see pictures of Judges Hoeveler and Graham, Magistrates Garber and O'Sullivan, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kogan, FPD Kathy Williams and soon-to-be former USA Alex Acosta. And Dore Louis, who is very tall.

Congrats to Alex Acosta

New Dean at FIU.

Congrats Alex.

Back from the West Coast

It was a fun week in San Francisco (I can't believe I missed the Father Cutié drama)...

I see the blog was in good hands while I was away. Rick was great and we hope to have him back on a regular basis.

Just a couple of quick hits before we get going for the week:

-- The Liberty City 6 jury (the latest version of it) will continue deliberating this week. That case is truly jinxed... (In his post on last week's LC6 happenings, Rick missed Mike Tein -- who, of course, is the most quotable lawyer in the District -- from the Blum article: "What a shameful waste of our taxes at the worst possible time. Just think what $10 million could have done for our schoolchildren in Liberty City.")

-- The District now has a Wiki page. It's interesting to look at the historical makeup of the Court. (Some trivia pointed out on the page: "This federal district has the dubious distinction of having had more judges removed through impeachment than any other district, with a total of two, one-third of all federal district judges so removed.")

-- Justice O'Connor had this to say about judicial elections: "They're awful. I hate them." More here.

-- Rick posted on the FIU faculty vote for Dean, and FIU law professor Howard Wasserman has a lot to say about the vote and the coverage here. Howard criticizes the open proceedings and compares it to watching sausages being made. Gotta disagree with Howard here -- we wanna know how sausages are made. Open proceedings are a good thing. Better to have the press in there and reporting (even if the coverage in this case wasn't complete) than the alternative of having the doors closed.

-- Rumpole demonstrates why the Ben Kuehne case needs to be dismissed.

Faculty disapproves Acosta's bid for FIU deanship

The FIU College of Law faculty recommended that the university not offer the deanship to U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, reports the DBR (whose article is available only with a paid subscription) and the Sun-Sentinel. The faculty endorsed two candidates, Beto Juarez, dean of the DU Sturm College of Law—a fantastic place to spend spring semester teaching criminal procedure and skiing—and Joel Friedman, a Tulane Law professor. The recommendations are not binding on the FIU president and provost but traditionally are seriously considered.

Miami Herald : South Florida prosecutor up for dean of FIU's law school

Dean Alex? Check out this link. Sorry for the sloppy post but I am sending this from my Blackberry as I am testifying today before the US Sentencing Commission. More on that later.

The usual suspects

Jay Weaver has an article this morning about Alex Acosta being asked to stay until the Spring, and about his possible replacement. The usual suspects are listed: David Buckner, Curt Miner, Jackie Becerra, Mark Schnapp, Willie Ferrer, and Daryl Trawick.

This and that

Whew -- thankfully, I was able to see the inauguration before my Broward hearing this afternoon. Unbelievable! Even the Broward judge and prosecutor seemed to be in good moods today.

In that vein, we will post the positive article about Alex Acosta, by Julie Kay, not the negative one being discussed by commenters and another blog.

Here's the intro:

When he was named U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, one of the largest and busiest districts in the country with 284 assistant U.S. attorneys, in July 2005, the question on many local lawyers' minds was, "Who is Alex Acosta?"A former assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's civil rights division and staunch conservative who clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and served as president of the Federalist Society at Harvard Law School, Acosta, just 36, had little criminal trial experience and was unknown in Miami legal circles.But the Miami native has earned the respect of many in the South Florida legal community for his hard line on health care fraud, his prosecution of a whopping 13 public officials for corruption — including seven Palm Beach County commissioners and four Hollywood police officers — and his open-door policy with defense lawyers, agents, journalists and members of the community.As a Democratic administration prepares to take office — and he prepares his exit strategy — Acosta, now 40, talked to The National Law Journal about his accomplishments during the last 3 1/2 years, what he has learned on the job and what the future holds.

Some of the questions Julie Kay posed:

NLJ: You've been U.S. attorney of one of the largest, busiest and most prominent districts in the country since 2005. What have been your proudest accomplishments and biggest disappointments?

AA: The job of U.S. attorney is the best job that any attorney can have. The U.S. attorney has the ability to have a direct impact on his or her district. Some of the issues I've chosen to focus on are public corruption, healthcare fraud and more recently mortgage fraud. I believe I have left a lasting impact not only on South Florida but on the issues themselves.Public corruption is of the utmost importance. The fact that the largest law enforcement agency in the state has changed the way business has been done in the region is the most important legacy I'm leaving. Health care fraud is not something I fully understood and was disgusted by when I got here. We have now prosecuted $1.5 billion in health care fraud. This is not victimless crime. That is incredibly significant. To have that kind of impact is gratifying.As far as frustrations, public corruption cases are very important and I'm proud of the fact that we've done them right. In each of the cases, we've brought the charges with overwhelming evidence that resulted in guilty pleas of the officials. This is very important because when a public official gets up and says, "I did this, I broke the law," it sends a message, more than a long, protracted litigation. The flip side of this is [that] public corruption cases take time, and what is most frustrating is seeing and knowing the evidence we have but waiting until our cases are ready. Some people feel these cases are put together in weeks or months, and you can't do that, you have to be thorough. That is frustrating to the community — the fact that you want things to move quickly and they don't. I said in my press conference in Palm Beach, I wish I could say this is the final prosecution, but I fear it is not. There are matters that require additional work.

***

NLJ: Human rights groups like the Center for Justice and Accountability and Human Rights Watch have issued statements commending federal prosecutors for bringing the case. Have you gotten any other reaction and do you think this case will set a precedent?

AA: Human rights groups support it. We've also gotten reaction from victims in Liberia. They never thought that Chuckie Taylor Jr. could be brought to justice. They thought he was above reproach. They realize now that in fact these types of cases can be brought. I think it will set a precedent around the country and other cases will be brought.

NLJ: That was a successful case. A case that has not been as successful has the Liberty Seven/Liberty Six case. That case — in which seven Miami men were charged with scheming to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago — has been criticized by the press and other groups as far-reaching: that these men were Al Queda wannabes and didn't have the ability to pull anything off. One man was dismissed at trial and the rest were subject to hung juries twice.You're retrying the case for the third time, starting this month. Why, and do you regret bringing this case?

AA: Every case we have brought has been based on the evidence, and as prosecutors we have to review the evidence and if we believe it's worth bringing, we do so. It's a pending trial so I can't comment. There have been matters that have hung twice and been retried in this office. It does happen. But as I've said before, this will be the third and final time.

Wow, no more retrials. Interesting. I think two mistrials are enough and the case shouldn't be tried a third time. But it is noteworthy that he is saying in advance that it won't be tried again. Jury selection starts this week.... Stay tuned.

“I’m still clinging to my BlackBerry. They’re going to pry it out of my hands.”

No, that wasn't one of the recently sentenced white-collar defendants in our district. It was our President-Elect Obama. Gotta love the guy. Here's the ABA Journal article on the BlackBerry dispute.

Speaking of Obama, is it possible that he keeps Alex Acosta as U.S. Attorney? Read Julie Kay's article here.

Caption contest

The actual caption under this photo in the Miami Herald today was:
U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, right foreground, and Diego Herrera, Director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology, left, foreground, look at recovered artifacts in Miami, Tuesday, July 8, 2008. Federal authorities in Miami have recovered a treasure trove of pre-Columbian gold, artifacts and emeralds, which were returned to the Colombian government. The treasures will be handed over to authorities from the South American nation on Tuesday. Federal authorities say the items were recovered from an Italian citizen who was living in south Florida and illegally smuggling them into the country.

Can you come up with a better caption?

The mold problem couldn't be any worse, right?

Wrong.

There is mold throughout the James Lawrence King building. From John Pacenti's DBR article:

Another federal courthouse is riddled with mold, according to a private study last fall commissioned by the U.S attorney’s office. The study found mold spores in the air throughout the James Lawrence King building in downtown Miami. U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta said Monday he asked for the study after mold problems at the Dyer Courthouse across the street became public last year following the unusual death in 2006 of a federal judge from a mysterious pulmonary illness. Acosta said the study’s report found “areas of concern” spread throughout the building. He said it was not unusual for one floor to be affected on one side more than the other. He also confirmed a small number of employees have complained about respiratory illness. Sources say some workers have chronic bronchitis.

For our out of town readers, don't be surprised by this -- we have mold in just about every building in Miami. So, what should be done?

Acosta said the study — which he did not release — recommended an upgrade of the building’s air conditioning and humidity control system followed by the cleaning of the air handling units and replacing insulation in air ducts. “I became concerned with the air quality in this building and thought it appropriate and necessary to protect our employees with our own assessment,” Acosta said. “This is a quality of life issue and it needs to get done.” Acosta said air purifiers — purchased out of the U.S. attorney’s office budget — have been located in the most problematic areas. Acosta referred questions about cost of the project to the General Services Administration, which acts the government’s landlord by renting out space in federal buildings.

The bright spot to all of this -- the new building is supposed to open soon:

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Federico Moreno said a certificate of occupancy has been issued and technical services should move into the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. courthouse this month.

Memo to thugs:

Don't get on YouTube and taunt law enforcement. You end up looking like this.

Money quote --

Alex Acosta: ''He threatened law enforcement, he said come get him, and we granted his wish."

"Miami’s Acosta dragged into political spotlight"

That was the headline in today's DBR regarding the motion to reduce Jack Abramoff's sentence. Apparently, there has been criticism of Alex Acosta for this motion, which criticism is just silly. Here's the motion; and here's the intro to the article:

Federal prosecutors in Miami were caught off guard by criticism from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Washington who suggested they were going soft on convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta was flying to Colombia on Thursday when Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, criticized a proposed sentence reduction for the former Greenberg Traurig lobbyist at the center of one of the biggest corruption scandals in Washington. “Is he a Bushie?” Reid asked about Acosta. Tensions have been mounting between Democratic leaders in Congress and the White House over a scandal over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys allegedly for political reasons. Sources close to the Abramoff case bristled at Reid’s criticism, saying a recent court filing to secure a reduction for Abramoff was routine and that the disgraced former lobbyist was central to bringing down several high profile officials.

Reid is wrong to criticize Acosta. If Reid doesn't like the Sentencing Guidelines and the way that Rule 35 works, then let's change it. But right now, when someone provides substantial assistance, he gets a reduction in his sentence -- for better or for worse.

Health care fraud

Julie Kay's Justice Watch analyzes Alex Acosta's "creative weapon in health care fraud" -- Operation Excise Equity, "a unique health care fraud initiative that targets Medicare crooks through civil channels and recoups funds directly from their banks." The Herald coverage is here.

Yesterday, commentors jumped on me for quoting a great scene in A Few Good Men. Well, here's another one: Col. Jessep: Take caution in your tone, Commander. I'm a fair guy, but this fucking heat is making me absolutely crazy.

Alito comes to the Southern District of Florida

Seems like the Justices enjoy taking road trips to South Florida. Alito spoke at a luncheon for the Palm Beach County Bar Association last week. He previously spoke at Alex Acosta's investitute. And the Chief was just in town speaking at the University of Miami. (Roberts was interviewed by Jan Crawford Greenburg, who has a new blog and a new book. I'm in the middle of the book, Supreme Conflict, and it's a must read for Court junkies.)