Speaking of cooperators...

Marc has an interesting post below about the "Stop Snitching" campaign. Judge Huck sentenced a very high profile cooperating witness this week, Jack Abramoff.

We previously posted on Jack Abramoff's different hats. Here is the one he wore for Wednesday's sentencing hearing (it looks like the same one he wore at his guilty plea). Those familiar with the Southern District will recognize one of the friendlier court security officers standing in the background of the picture.

What I find much more interesting than all the hoopla about the hats is the 60 page memo (and 260 letters) that his lawyers filed in support of his request for a low-end of the guideline sentence, which TalkLeft praised as creative lawyering.

The debate about cooperators...

Professor Berman over at Sentencing Law & Policy has an interesting post about the USA Today article on the anti-snitching campaign.

This, of course, is a topic of great significance in the Southern District of Florida, and we hope this post results in some interesting dialogue.

Here's the post from Prof. Berman:

Wednesday's USA Today has this extended article about the anti-snitching "campaign" that seems to have become a nationwide issue. Here is a taste:

Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching — on other folks in the 'hood — is getting louder. Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses? Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' over-reliance on self-serving criminal informers? Or is it bigger than that? ...

Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, says that, based on federal statistics, one of every four black men from 20 to 29 is behind bars, on probation or on parole, and under pressure to snitch. She estimates one in 12 of all black men in the highest-crime neighborhoods are snitching. She says informers strain the social fabric of poor minority neighborhoods, where as many as half the young men have been arrested....

Hence a backlash — "stop snitching." The slogan appeared in Baltimore about two years ago as the title of an underground DVD featuring threatening, gun-wielding drug dealers... The black community is divided. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy has blasted the Stop Snitching campaign on the hip-hop group's website....

Whatever its intent, the Stop Snitching movement has galvanized officials already apoplectic about witness reluctance and witness intimidation.... Stop Snitching T-shirts have been banned from a number of courthouses. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, whose city recorded the most homicides in a decade last year, threatened to send police into stores to pull them off the shelves. Following the furor over the Stop Snitchin' DVD, Maryland raised witness intimidation from a misdemeanor to a felony, and Baltimore police made a tape of their own, Keep Talking. "People have to snitch," says Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore street cop.

HIGH PROFILE SENTENCINGS

Jack Abramoff and his former partner Adam Kidan were sentenced by the Hon. Paul C. Huck to five years and ten months, the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines. Both men were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 21 million dollars. Abramoff will likely see that sentenced reduced as he continues to cooperate with the Government regarding alleged corruption by members of Congress.

William Rodriguez-Abadia, the son of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela and the nephew of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela,* was sentenced to 262 months by the Hon. Federico Moreno. At the sentencing hearing, Rodriguez-Abadia informed the Court that he will cooperate against his family. In light of his cooperation, the Government stated that they will likely file a Rule 35 to reduce Rodriguez-Abadia's sentence.

*Disclosure -- David Markus is lead counsel for Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela.

Verdict

After six weeks of trial and seven days of deliberations, I'm very excited to post that my client (and four of the other 9 defendants) were found not guilty today. What an unbelievable feeling. Many people wonder why criminal defense lawyers do what they do. There is no better feeling in the world than hearing those two magical words. Nothing better.

I salute the lawyers I was honored to work with in this case. Roy Black, Maria Neyra, Jackie Perzek, Jared Lopez, Alex Zipperrer, John Ossick, Tom Withers, Nate Diamond, George Vila, John Howes, Scott Srebnick, Hy Shapiro, and Ed Tolley. The prosecutors -- Jim Durham, Fred Kramer, Joe Newman, and Jeff Buerstette -- were gentlemen and excellent lawyers. Judge Edenfield ran a tight ship and made what could have been a 4 month trial a six week trial. His staff was also great.

I knew we'd get a verdict today because my wife and new baby hopped on a plane at 12:30 to come visit me in Savannah. We got the verdict at 12:35... No joke.

What an experience. More to follow.

I might as well blog...

... since we are on day 7 of deliberations.

Jay Weaver reports on the government bugging of the FIU couple here. Very interesting article. Here's the intro: "Federal agents planted a bug in the bedroom of a Florida International University a couple of years ago, netting evidence to charge them as unregistered agents for the Cuban government, according to court records. The FBI also wiretapped the home phones of Professor Carlos Alvarez and his counselor wife, Elsa Alvarez, from at least late 2001 until last summer, collecting electronic evidence on practically all of their conversations.
The reams of intercepts included mundane exchanges and even the private musings between husband and wife." Here is the defense motion on the issue and the government's brief as well.

Also, Jack Abramoff will be sentenced today. Brian Tannebaum blogs about it here and here.

Padilla hearing

"MIAMI (AP) -- The federal judge overseeing the terrorism case against Jose Padilla imposed tight restrictions Tuesday on the handling of classified material to prevent disclosure of national security secrets when classified evidence is turned over to the defense."

p.s. We're in day six of deliberations. Miserable.

See no evil

Another fight brewing in the Padilla case -- this time over what evidence should be turned over to the defense. Here's the intro to Dan Cordtz's DBR article:

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami is expected Tuesday to consider an unusual motion by prosecutors in the terrorism case against Jose Padilla and two of his alleged accomplices to prevent the defendants from seeing classified information the government may use against them.

Although a government spokeswoman declined comment, defense attorneys said the motion shows that prosecutors plan to use classified materials in the upcoming trial of Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi and wants to prevent the defendants from seeing such evidence. The trial is now scheduled for September.

Such restrictions, said Miami solo practitioner Kenneth M. Swartz, counsel for Hassoun, “would be a big problem. A defense attorney has to be able to share information with his client in order to mount an effective defense. We will have to put up a fight about it.”

The three men, along with two others who are not in custody, are charged with conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country and with providing material support to terrorists.

In his motion, filed last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell R. Killinger invoked the federal Classified Information Procedures Act.

“In conducting its investigation of the criminal activities of the defendants, as well as in preparation to meet its discovery obligations, the government has concluded that there is classified material in various milieu, including written documents, which items may be relevant to this case and which are classified as ‘Secret’ or ‘Confidential,’ ” wrote assistant U.S. attorney Russell R. Killinger. “Some of this classified information is the property of foreign governments.”

JUDGE HENRY LEYTE-VIDAL HAS PASSED AWAY

Hello Federal Blog readers. Some of you read my State Court Blog, where I am infamously known as "Rumpole". David Markus was kind enough to invite me to be a guest blogger during his trial and absence from the Southern District. I am sorry that my first post on this blog brings such sad news. We have lost a wonderful Circuit Court Judge for the second time in a few months. The following is an email we received from one of our readers:

Judge Henry Leyte-Vidal has passed away yesterday. He died during the night while at Mt. Sinai hospital on Miami Beach. He was operated earlier this week for cancer. He has previously battled a brain tumor, skin cancer and I believe lung cancer. Henry came out of the operation OK but complained of some pain on Friday. The doctors were going to go back in but couldn't since he had low blood pressure (Could've been high, he suffered from one of these two). Since the doctors were unable to stabilize his blood pressure, they were unable to go back in. He then suffered cardiac arrest. and was placed back in ICU. This was all yesterday . Last night, He seemed to have stabilized when he died. Peter Heller just called me so I am passing it on to you. Peter was very close to Henry. They coached Little League together and Peter was with his son Danny throughout the day. Danny is 14yrs old. Judge Leyte-Vidal is also survived by two older sons Alex and Henrique or Enrique from an earlier marriage.