Double Agent...

The Miami Herald's Jay Weaver and Oscar Corral have this interesting story on the confidential informant in the weapons case involving Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat. Here's the intro:

A federal informant playing a critical role in a South Florida weapons case against the wealthy Miami benefactor for Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles also was sharing details about the exiles with a Cuban government official known as ''Daniel'' as far back as 2001, prosecutors have revealed.

Prosecutors also disclosed for the first time that the FBI informant, Gilberto Abascal, traveled by boat with Posada's benefactor and other friends last year to pick up the CIA-trained Posada in Mexico and bring him back to the United States illegally.

Details of Abascal's past contacts with a Cuban official and Posada's entry into the United States surfaced Friday as attorneys for the weapons-case defendants, Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, sought to obtain more information from prosecutors that could help their clients' defense.

For months, prosecutors claimed to have no evidence that Abascal communicated with Cuban government officials. Yet the April 6 letter made public Friday acknowledges that Abascal met with ''Daniel'' and perhaps others at least six times -- an admission that could bolster claims that the defendants were set up by the Cuban government.

The explosive admission was made public just two weeks before the May 8 trial in Fort Lauderdale, a location opposed by the defendants because they maintain they cannot get a fair trial outside of Miami-Dade.

I want...

... this case.

Slow blogging

I have to apologize again for the slow blogging. I just got back from Atlanta where I had an oral argument in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel was Judges Anderson, Fay, and Siler. I always enjoy arguing appeals, as I did in this case, but I'm always amazed at how much preparation goes into a 15 minute argument. The preparation time to argument time ratio is all out of whack in the appellate court, isn't it?

And if you are a blog/law nerd, Ian Best at 3L Epiphany now has this post collecting law review articles citing legal blogs. Some recent related posts:
Judges on blogs and blogging
Blogging news and notes
The power of legal blogs
Amazing taxonomy of legal blogs

"Civil" depo (UPDATED)

Check out this video clip of a "civil" depo. Hilarious.

You may also want to check out Hannity & Colmes tonight. (UPDATE -- Richard tells me that his appearance has been postponed until tomorrow night.) Friend of Blog Richard Rosenthal will be on defending his client, Basil Dalack -- a 76 year-old Korean War vet who was recently elected to the town council of the Village of Tequesta (in Palm Beach). Dalak refuses to take the oath because of his disagreement with Bush and the Iraq war. Hannity must be frothing... Here's a Sun-Sentinel article about the case.

STATE COURT JUDGE LINDA DAKIS SERIOUSLY ILL

Hi Federal Court blog readers. Rumpole here. I am sorry to always be the harbinger of sad news (and I promise that I have a humorous Federal Court post on the way) but I am sad to report that State Court Administrative Judge for the Civil Division Judge Linda Dakis suffered a serious stroke over the weekend and is in intensive care at Baptist Hospital. The outlook is not good.
I know that many members of the Federal Judiciary and Federal Court practitioners know and respect Judge Dakis and I thought this is an appropriate way to let everyone know about her illness.