"Federal prosecutors get OK to seek death penalty for man accused of murdering deputy"

That was the headline in yesterday's Sun-Sentinel: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal filed by murder suspect Kenneth Wilk, clearing the path for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty at his April trial."

Fixed!

The 11th Circuit reissued Thompson v. United States today, clearing up the name mess that I discussed here and here. It inserted the other DM's middle name Scott. And the Court even dropped a footnote: "This opinion is not referring to attorney David Oscar Markus, who was not involved in the case."

What a relief.

Added: For the record, I think David Scott Markus is a good guy and a good lawyer, and I am sorry the name confusion has brought unwarranted attention to this opinion.

Dude!

I couldn't pass up this story (by Kathleen McGrory and Nikki Waller) and on a Broward judge who was arrested for smoking pot while sitting on a bench in Stanley Goldman Park, just west of I95 near Hollywood Boulevard. Only in South Florida...

Actually, maybe I should say, Only in America -- the Supreme Court heard argument today in the "Bong Hits for Jesus" case.

Ft. Pierce courthouse approved

Julie Kay has the scoop in today's DBR -- apparently Ft. Pierce has been tapped for a new federal courthouse.

Now the question is whether it will open before the Miami courthouse...

News and Notes

Julie Kay writes today about Judge Moore's preclusion of the wet-foot, dry-foot defense in the baseball player smuggling case. Here's Judge Moore's order.

Jay Weaver discussed more discovery in Padilla here: " reputed al Qaeda member told U.S. authorities that the terror network scrutinized Jose Padilla as a recruit for Islamic extremism in 2000-01, according to a new document filed in federal court in Miami." And you can view the document discussed.

And to complete our federal court reporter trio, Vanessa Blum discusses the Hollywood cop hearing yesterday, in which Judge Seltzer granted the parties' request for extra time to resolve the matter before arraignment.