Blogging Block

Nothing is grabbing me for a post today. Maybe because it's Spring Break next week... Or maybe because I have to go to FDC this morning. I dunno...

Anyway, I guess I could write something up about the accountant accused of hiding money in the UBS Swiss bank account.

Or maybe the cops in Ft. Lauderdale who were sentenced in a drug ring yesterday.

I could write about the potential penalties for Donte Stallworth and ask for your opinion about who should get more time -- a DUI defendant who kills someone or a first-time fraudster in federal court.

Hmmmm... Perhaps I should engage the commenter in the post below who asks what I would do if I were U.S. Attorney.

But alas, I need to head out for a couple hours now. Hopefully I'll come back and have some great posting idea. Post suggestions in the comments please.

Federal Bar luncheon

via Celeste Higgins:

Please join me in welcoming this month’s Federal Bar Association's Lunch Series speaker, Dr. Redmond Burke. His presentation is: Medicine at the Speed of Thought. Dr. Burke, a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard University Medical School, became the Chief of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Miami Children’s Hospital at the age of 36. Dr. Burke is also the co-director of the Congenital Heart Institute of Miami Children’s Hospital at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

Dr. Burke has worked with a heart team to find and develop applications of information technology to improve medical outcomes resulted in a relational database for congenital heart surgery: a web based information system for a medical team and web based reporting of medical outcomes in real time.

The web based information system enabled a unique form of rounds, which are called "internet rounds", enabling information exchange and clinical decision making over the Internet.
Dr. Burke’s research, writing and surgery is legendary in his field. So much so, that he was cast as the host of the ABC network television reality program The Miracle Workers, which first aired March 6, 2006. The program followed patients through complex medical treatments, showing the technical and emotional aspects of modern medical care. Dr. Burke has appeared on CNN, Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN Entertainment, Extra, and Entertainment Tonight to describe novel medical achievements.

I hope you can join us in welcoming Dr. Burke to our luncheon series.

RSVP to Celeste_Higgins@fd.org

A new day

Maybe the Obama Justice Department means business: it is dropping its case against Sen. Ted Stevens because prosecutors withheld evidence. Here's the AP article. Perhaps this will send a strong message to line prosecutors around the country that Brady material should be disclosed. From the article:

The Justice Department said Wednesday it would drop corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens because prosecutors withheld evidence from the senator's defense team during his trial.
The reversal is an embarrassment for the department, which won a conviction against the Alaska Republican in October and is now asking to overturn it.
The week after his conviction, Stevens lost his Senate seat in the November election. The patriarch of Alaska politics since before statehood, Stevens, 85, was also the longest serving Republican senator.
***
In court filings, the Justice Department admitted it never turned over notes from an interview with the oil contractor, who estimated the value of the renovation work as far less than he testified at trial.
"I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released Wednesday. He said the department must ensure that all cases are "handled fairly and consistent with its commitment to justice."
The Justice Department is investigating the conduct of the prosecutors who tried the Stevens case.
***
In December, Stevens asked a federal judge to grant him a new trial or throw out the case, saying his trial had many deficiencies.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan held Justice Department lawyers in contempt in February for failing to turn over documents as ordered. He called their behavior "outrageous."
Sullivan had ordered Justice to provide the agency's internal communications regarding a whistle-blower complaint brought by an FBI agent involved in the investigation of Stevens. The agent objected to Justice Department tactics during the trial, including failure to turn over evidence and an "inappropriate relationship" between the lead agent on the case and the prosecution's star witness.

I'm happy for Stevens and his lawyers (from my old law firm Williams & Connolly), but dropping the case now doesn't put Stevens back in the same position he was in. He lost his Senate seat. His reputation has been ruined. He had to pay for a very expensive criminal trial.

Jury votes for death in Turnpike murder case

The Sun-Sentinel has the story here. It's the first time a jury has voted for the death penalty in this District since the feds authorized it back in 1988:

Two men who executed a family of four on Florida's Turnpike deserve to die for the murders of the two young children they shot, a jury decided with a 12-0 vote on Tuesday afternoon.The same jury that convicted Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr. earlier this month of killing Luis Escobedo, his wife Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, and their two sons Luis Julian, 4, and Luis Damian, 3, on Oct. 13, 2006 voted to impose the death penalty on both men – but only for the murders of the children. The two will receive life sentences for the murders of the two adults.The unanimous verdict marks the first time a federal defendant has been condemned to death in Florida since Congress reauthorized capital punishment in 1988. Since then, prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the death penalty at least three times in South Florida but failed to persuade jurors. A unanimous jury vote jurors is required to impose the death penalty in federal cases.

One of the defendants reacted to the verdict:

There was a scuffle in the courtroom after the jury was dismissed.Troya began making inaudible comments and would not stop talking after he was told to be quiet.He picked up a bottle of water and threw it. The bottle did not hit anyone but U.S. Marshals wrestled him to the ground and pulled him from the courtroom.Troya's family members, including his mother and sister, called out: "Daniel, no" and asked the federal agents not to hurt him.

This case will not end here obviously. The appellate process will take some time...

Prosecution rests in Castroneves trial

Curt Anderson has the story.

So, will Helio testify?

Although I am blogging this from my Blackberry, I promise I am not doing it inside the courtroom!