Jose Padilla sentencing postponed

Due to a death in Judge Cooke's family, the Jose Padilla sentencing has been postponed until January. Our condolences to Judge Cooke and her family during this time.

Padilla co-defendant attempts suicide at FDC

Jay Weaver is reporting here that Jose Padilla co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun attempted suicide last week at the Federal Detention Center. Sentencing on Padilla, Hassoun, and Jayoussi was supposed to begin tomorrow, but we're told that it has been pushed off until January.

In other news, the Liberty City 7 jury has the case (via Vanessa Blum). Over/under on verdict? As with the Padilla verdict, I say verdicts by the end of the week. (Rumpole never did send me my check...)

Informant killed

Jay Weaver details the murder case involving an informant here. The strange thing is the person that the informant was cooperating against was set to plead two days after the informant was killed. Here's the intro to the interesting article:

Wearing all black with a hood over his head, the hit man ran up the driveway of a central Miami-Dade home, pulled out a 9mm pistol and popped the FBI informant.
Seconds later, the shooter jumped into a getaway car. He had just shot his target in the back of the head outside the target's father-in-law's house. In the fleeing car, the shooter told the driver that the victim had ''looked scared'' just before he shot him at close range.
And so began the murder-for-hire investigation into the hit on Mahmoud Elchami on the afternoon of Nov. 19, 2006, according to FBI records filed in federal court. Agents say Elchami was murdered because he was going to testify as a key witness in a drug trial.
Agents allege the man who pulled the trigger is Joshua John Laing, who will be arraigned on Monday in the killing of Elchami, who died one day after the shooting. After his arrest, Laing, 22, confessed he committed the shooting in exchange for thousands of dollars, according to an FBI affidavit.

Florida group was a terrorist cell seeking 'unholy alliance' with al-Qaida

That was Jackie Arango closing today in the Liberty City 7 case.

Lots of coverage here (Miami Herald), here (Sun-Sentinel), and here (AP).

From the Sun-Sentinel article:

Arango urged jurors to reject defense claims that the group's leader Narseal Batiste only pretended to be a terrorist in a fraud to extort money from the informant.

"A fraud is trying to get you to buy into something that is patently not true," Arango said. "That is the only fraud going on here."

The men, struggling construction workers who hung out in a Liberty City warehouse, are charged with trying to join forces with al-Qaida in plots to bomb the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI headquarters in North Miami Beach.

If convicted, each faces up to 70 years in prison.The jury is expected to begin deliberating Friday after defense lawyers complete their closing arguments.

What is the appropriate sentence for Jose Padilla?

Judge Cooke is tasked with sentencing Jose Padilla next week. The Government is asking for life. The defense is asking for something much less.

Should Padilla get credit for time served in the brig?
Should he get extra credit because of his treatment?
Should the judge consider the fact that Padilla will likely serve his time at the worst federal prison in America -- ADX Florence?

Here is Caruso on that last point -- from the defense memo:

"By the Bureau of Prisons own admission, ADX Florence is 'hell.' Surely the Court, in arriving at a just sentence for Mr. Padilla, should take into account that he will serve his sentence in hell."

Now that's powerful stuff.