11th Circuit update

Thanks very much to JANE MOSCOWITZ for this guest post:

Richard Strafer and Howard Srebnick had a big win in the Eleventh Circuit this week in United States v. Kaley. Judges Marcus, Wilson and Tjoflat reversed and remanded the district court's decision not to permit the Defendants to challenge the pretrial restraint of assets they wanted to use to hire their counsel of choice, Howard Srebnick and Susan Van Dusen. Judge Marcus wrote that the Court was bound by United States v. Bissell, 866 F.2d 1343 (11th Cir. 1989), which held that a defendant is only entitled to such a hearing if he meets the Barker v. Wingo balancing test. Here, clearly believing that there should have been an evidentiary hearing, the Court determined that the trial court had failed correctly to balance the Defendants’ assertion of their right to a hearing and the prejudice to them of its denial. Judge Marcus especially noted the prejudice to the Defendants of being deprived of their counsel of choice, calling that a “powerful” form and “substantial source” of prejudice. The Court sent the case back for a correct evaluation of the factors to determine whether a hearing should be held.

Judge Tjoflat concurred in a separate opinion in which he held that Bissell should not apply because its use of Barker v. Wingo was “non-binding dicta.” Judge Tjoflat did not find the return of the indictment or the submission of an ex parte affidavit sufficient to determine whether the restrain was proper. He wrote that under the standard procedural due process test of Mathews v. Eldridge, an evidentiary hearing should be held ( a proposition with which Judge Marcus agreed) and should be held pretrial. The resolution of whether assets that are to be used for the payment of counsel of choice may continue to be restrained cannot wait for determination at the trial. He noted that, if the matter is carried along till trial, the “prosecutorial incentives increase the likelihood of an erroneous deprivation in the absence of a prompt hearing. A prosecutor has everything to gain by restraining assets that ultimately may not be forfeited. By doing so, he can stack the deck in the government’s favor by crippling the defendant’s ability to afford high-quality counsel. If the prosecutor can delay judicial oversight of the restraint until trial, he also has nothing to lose, as he does not have to dedicate any extra resources to defending his decision.”

The FPD/CJA conference

The Southern District federal courthouses were mostly quiet Thursday and Friday as the Federal Public Defenders and CJA lawyers had their annual conference, this time in Naples. (Were you there Rumpole?)

The U.S. Attorney's Office was still working though, indicting this high-profile case (via the AP):

A 22-year-old Miami Beach man whose company had a contract to supply the U.S. military with ammunition for forces in Afghanistan has been charged along with three others with providing prohibited Chinese-made ammunition and saying it came from Albania.
Efraim Diveroli and two others charged in the case made their first appearance Friday afternoon in federal court in Miami. A fourth man was being charged in Utah.
Diveroli's company, AEY Inc., was paid more than $10 million for 35 shipments of ammunition that prosecutors say was manufactured in China.
Prosecutors contend AEY Inc. removed markings from containers to hide the fact they were manufactured in China. In each instance, Diveroli certified that the ammunition was manufactured in Albania and submitted an invoice for it, they said.
Diveroli's company was given a $298 million contract by the U.S. Army in 2007 to provide several types of ammunition. It was not clear how much of that contract had been paid, but the first shipment of ammunition listed in court documents was from June 2007.

Here's Alex Acosta, who is getting pretty good at the soundbite:

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said that quality control is one reason the government wants to know the manufacturer and origin of ammunition.
He said Diveroli's company "intentionally cut corners" and that it was "risking the lives of our troops and allies." He also said that the ammunition was "old" but did not say when it was manufactured. He said the defendants could face more than ten years in prison if convicted.

Defense lawyer Howard Srebnick (he is co-counsel with Hy Shapiro) responds:

Diveroli's attorney, Howard Srebnick, said in an e-mail that the government has "misconstrued" the law his client is accused of breaking. He said the government knew Diveroli bought the ammunition from the Albanian government and that it was made in China before a munitions embargo.

If you are looking for some time to kill on Monday morning, check out EW's top 100 movies, TV shows, books, videogames, tech, (and others) of the past 25 years here. Pulp Fiction is a fair choice for #1, but my top TV show is Seinfeld. As for video games, I agree with Tetris, but you gotta move Tecmo Bowl way up...

Ze'ev Rosenstein pleads guilty...

...and is sentenced to 144 months (that's 12 years for the math challenged; Update -- My math is actually incorrect. After he is extradited, Rosenstein will have 5 years 4 months to go which will be served in Israel where the pending Israeli case against him, conspiracy to commit murder, will be concurrent and no further prosecutions here or there.)

You remember this case -- the one where prosecutors wanted the witnesses to testify in "light disguise." Previous blog coverage on this case here and here. The AP is reporting on the plea here; Herald here.

Judge Dimitrouleas presided.