"As rare as four-leaf clovers"

Mike Tein was referring to binding 11(e) pleas in this Sun-Sentinel article about Ze'ev Rosenstein (in which the parties agreed to a 144 month sentence -- see post below). I loved the quote, and I agree with Mike that you rarely see these sorts of deals in federal court where the parties agree on a particular sentence. The judge either accepts the deal and is then bound by the agreement or rejects it. It seems to me that both sides would want to do this more often. It gives everyone certainty, avoids litigation, and avoids appeals... Why don't we see more of these binding deals?

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.

Cert from SDFLA

Our appellate correspondent, Richard Rosenthal, writes in:


On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert on a fascinating case that originated right here in S.D. Fla. Without delving too much into details -- those interested can go to Wyner v. Struhs, 254 F. Supp. 2d 1297 (S.D. Fla. 2003) -- Judge Middlebrooks awarded "prevailing party" attorneys' fees to the ACLU of Florida after it successfully obtained a preliminary injunction that allowed a nude anti-war protest in a public park. But the catch is that after "winning" the preliminary injunction, the ACLU "lost" its request for a permanent injunction because the protest was was one-time deal, rather than a recurring performance. The Eleventh Circuit -- in an unsigned, unpublished opinion -- affirmed Judge Middlebrooks's award of attorneys' fees. Wyner v. Struhs, 179 Fed. Appx. 566 (11th Cir. 2006). Although that unpublished affirmance is not even binding precent within the Eleventh Circuit, it nevertheless conflicted with a Fourth Circuit ruling (Smyth v. Rivero, 282 F.2d 268 (4th Cir. 2002)), and the Supreme Court has now stepped in to resolve the conflict. After the Supreme Court's virtual elimination of attorneys' fees under the "catalyst theory," a Supreme Court ruling in this case could deliver yet another serious blow to civil rights organizations and other "do-gooder" litigants. Stay tuned.....

Padilla trial continued

Judge Cooke continued the Padilla trial until April 16, 2007. This was done, in part, to allow for the mental evaluations to take place.

Picking up on one of Rumpole's recent riffs (read his comments and responses by a Herald reporter) regarding article headlines, here is the headline for a recent Sun-Sentinel article about the Padilla argument in the 11th Circuit: "Lawyers for terror suspects pessimistic as appeals court considers conspiracy charge." So I read the article looking for quotes from the lawyers saying they were pessimistic. There wasn't one! The article, by Vanessa Blum, was well-written and informative, but the headline (which I'm sure wasn't written by her) was absolutely wrong and had nothing to do with the article. How does this happen?

Padilla case goes to Atlanta

The 11th Circuit heard argument today in Jose Padilla's case on Judge Cooke's decision to dismiss Count I of the indictment. More to follow later, but here's Vanessa Blum's (Sun-Sentinel) take of the argument. Heavyweights argued it -- Anne Schultz for the Government and Paul Rashkind for the defense. Both are chiefs of the appellate divisions of their respective offices.