1. How do you prosecute a defendant who is deaf, mute, and illiterate, including no known knowledge of sign language? They are trying.
2. Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch are ATL's lawyers of the year. Who, you say? Read about em here.
3. Justice Kagan wrote her first opinion, an 8-1 ruling for credit card companies.
4. F. Lee Bailey says he can prove OJ's innocence. I'm not sure it matters much; OJ is in jail for the next 33 years in Nevada.
5. The 11th Circuit is sleeping in this morning:
Inclement Weather
The Court of Appeals and all administrative offices in Atlanta will be operating on Wednesday, January 12, 2011. Employees are asked to report for duty no later than 10:30 a.m. Those employees who believe that they cannot safely arrive for work by that time should follow normal procedures to request annual leave, which will be granted liberally.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
11th Circuit in Atlanta is closed today
It's cold there. From the Court's website:
Inclement Weather
Court of Appeals employees should not report for duty at the Tuttle or Godbold Buildings in Atlanta on Monday, January 10, 2011, unless they are specifically directed to do so by a supervisor.
It's a beautiful day in Miami today. Outside the Ferguson Courthouse this morning, there was the swearing in of all the new representatives. Everyone who spoke mentioned John M. Roll and the other victims who died in the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, and wished a complete and speedy recovery to Representative Gabrielle Giffords. In addition, Chief Judge Moreno gave a nice shout out to Kathy Williams and urged the new reps to get her confirmed. Well done Chief.
Inclement Weather
Court of Appeals employees should not report for duty at the Tuttle or Godbold Buildings in Atlanta on Monday, January 10, 2011, unless they are specifically directed to do so by a supervisor.
It's a beautiful day in Miami today. Outside the Ferguson Courthouse this morning, there was the swearing in of all the new representatives. Everyone who spoke mentioned John M. Roll and the other victims who died in the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, and wished a complete and speedy recovery to Representative Gabrielle Giffords. In addition, Chief Judge Moreno gave a nice shout out to Kathy Williams and urged the new reps to get her confirmed. Well done Chief.
The most hated lawyer in America right now is...
... Judy Clarke, who is going to represent Jared Loughner, who is charged with murdering Chief Federal Judge John M. Roll and others, and attempting to kill Representative Giffords.
She has been the most hated lawyer before, representing the Unabomber, Susan Smith, and Zacarias Moussaoui. She may be the most hated, but she's the reason our system works. What would happen if no lawyer would agree to represent Loughner?
In any event, TalkLeft has an excellent write-up on her:
They don't make defense lawyers any better than Judy. You may remember her from the Susan Smith case in South Carolina, where Smith was charged with drowning her two sons; or the Unabomber case, or the case of Eric Rudolf. Thanks to Judy (and those who helped her), all avoided the death penalty. She also worked on the Zacarias Moussaoui defense team for a while. The AP called her "a one woman dream team."
Judy is a past-President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), where she's affectionately called "Saint Judy" -- and a friend. She is both a great person and a great lawyer.
From Judy's closing in the guilt phase of Susan Smith:
This is not a case about evil, this is a case about sadness," Clarke said. "She made a horrible, horrible decision to be at that lake that night. She made that decision with a confused mind and a heart that had no hope. But confusion is not evil and hopelessness is not malice."
In the penalty phase of the trial to decide life or death:
Smith's lawyers countered in their opening statement that Smith knows she has "sinned" and "accepts responsibility" for killing her sons.
But defense attorney Judy Clarke also implored the jury to understand that Smith suffered from "mental illness" and had "snapped" on the night of the drownings after a lifetime of emotional trauma. The boys' deaths, Clarke told the jurors, was the result of Smith's own botched suicide attempt.
"Suicide is why we're here. In her own suicidal confusion, she believed the children would go with her, but the body wills to live and Susan jumped out of the car," Clarke said. "Once the car began rolling, those children were lost and Susan's life was lost."
And,
Her voice steady, Clarke rejected [prosecutor] Giese's argument in her 14-minute reply, saying that the boys were the "sunshine" of Smith's life. "Use your common sense, it was not a boyfriend" that propelled the drownings, Clarke told the jury. "Use your common sense, it was not to get rid of an obstacle."
Instead, Clarke urged the jury to see Smith as driven by a "failing life," by emotional problems that stemmed from a father who committed suicide when she was 6 and a stepfather who molested her when she was 16.
"When we talk about Susan's life, we're not trying to gain your sympathy," Clarke said. "We're trying to gain your understanding. Susan Smith tried to cope with a failing life and she sank."
The jury returned a verdict of life in prison.
She has been the most hated lawyer before, representing the Unabomber, Susan Smith, and Zacarias Moussaoui. She may be the most hated, but she's the reason our system works. What would happen if no lawyer would agree to represent Loughner?
In any event, TalkLeft has an excellent write-up on her:
They don't make defense lawyers any better than Judy. You may remember her from the Susan Smith case in South Carolina, where Smith was charged with drowning her two sons; or the Unabomber case, or the case of Eric Rudolf. Thanks to Judy (and those who helped her), all avoided the death penalty. She also worked on the Zacarias Moussaoui defense team for a while. The AP called her "a one woman dream team."
Judy is a past-President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), where she's affectionately called "Saint Judy" -- and a friend. She is both a great person and a great lawyer.
From Judy's closing in the guilt phase of Susan Smith:
This is not a case about evil, this is a case about sadness," Clarke said. "She made a horrible, horrible decision to be at that lake that night. She made that decision with a confused mind and a heart that had no hope. But confusion is not evil and hopelessness is not malice."
In the penalty phase of the trial to decide life or death:
Smith's lawyers countered in their opening statement that Smith knows she has "sinned" and "accepts responsibility" for killing her sons.
But defense attorney Judy Clarke also implored the jury to understand that Smith suffered from "mental illness" and had "snapped" on the night of the drownings after a lifetime of emotional trauma. The boys' deaths, Clarke told the jurors, was the result of Smith's own botched suicide attempt.
"Suicide is why we're here. In her own suicidal confusion, she believed the children would go with her, but the body wills to live and Susan jumped out of the car," Clarke said. "Once the car began rolling, those children were lost and Susan's life was lost."
And,
Her voice steady, Clarke rejected [prosecutor] Giese's argument in her 14-minute reply, saying that the boys were the "sunshine" of Smith's life. "Use your common sense, it was not a boyfriend" that propelled the drownings, Clarke told the jury. "Use your common sense, it was not to get rid of an obstacle."
Instead, Clarke urged the jury to see Smith as driven by a "failing life," by emotional problems that stemmed from a father who committed suicide when she was 6 and a stepfather who molested her when she was 16.
"When we talk about Susan's life, we're not trying to gain your sympathy," Clarke said. "We're trying to gain your understanding. Susan Smith tried to cope with a failing life and she sank."
The jury returned a verdict of life in prison.
Friday, January 07, 2011
Judge Hurley: I would have found Joel Williams not guilty
From the Sun-Sentinel:
Charged initially with a money-laundering conspiracy involving Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Joel Williams was sentenced Thursday to just two years of probation for filing false income tax returns.
U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley took the prosecution by surprise when he briefly criticized the government's case against Williams, an offshoot of the FBI's high-profile and successful undercover sting on public corruption in Broward County.
The judge said he would have found Williams not guilty of the money-laundering charges "on the grounds of entrapment" and that he felt those charges had been the result of "pie in the sky" created by the government.
Big win for Assistant Federal Defender Daryl Wilcox, who hung the jury the first time around. More:
"I don't absolve him," Hurley said. "I don't suggest that what he did was appropriate but I think he allowed himself to be swept along in something that sounded too good to be true."
In an interview after the sentencing, Williams said he had been stupid and greedy.
"[When] people that you trust and look up to say things, you get overwhelmed and believe them. You put blinders on," he said.
Charged initially with a money-laundering conspiracy involving Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Joel Williams was sentenced Thursday to just two years of probation for filing false income tax returns.
U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley took the prosecution by surprise when he briefly criticized the government's case against Williams, an offshoot of the FBI's high-profile and successful undercover sting on public corruption in Broward County.
The judge said he would have found Williams not guilty of the money-laundering charges "on the grounds of entrapment" and that he felt those charges had been the result of "pie in the sky" created by the government.
Big win for Assistant Federal Defender Daryl Wilcox, who hung the jury the first time around. More:
"I don't absolve him," Hurley said. "I don't suggest that what he did was appropriate but I think he allowed himself to be swept along in something that sounded too good to be true."
In an interview after the sentencing, Williams said he had been stupid and greedy.
"[When] people that you trust and look up to say things, you get overwhelmed and believe them. You put blinders on," he said.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Cross-sex strip searches in jail humiliating and unconstitutional?
Yes, says a 6-5 9th Circuit in this opinion. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
The inmate, Charles Byrd, was in Maricopa County's minimum-security jail awaiting trial in October 2004 when officials ordered searches of everyone in his unit after a series of fights.
Byrd was ordered to strip down to his [boxers] - colored pink, as required for all inmates by Joe Arpaio, the county's hard-line sheriff - and was searched by a female cadet from a training academy. She said she had taken no more than 20 seconds, while Byrd estimated the time at a minute. No contraband was found.
A three-judge appeals court panel ordered Byrd's civil rights suit dismissed in 2009, citing the jail's security needs and past rulings allowing female guards to pat down clothed male prisoners and observe naked male inmates.
But after the full appeals court ordered a rehearing, a majority of Wednesday's panel said cross-gender probes of intimate areas violate the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches.
Forget about the strip search; how about having to wear pink underwear in jail? Talk about humiliating...
The inmate, Charles Byrd, was in Maricopa County's minimum-security jail awaiting trial in October 2004 when officials ordered searches of everyone in his unit after a series of fights.
Byrd was ordered to strip down to his [boxers] - colored pink, as required for all inmates by Joe Arpaio, the county's hard-line sheriff - and was searched by a female cadet from a training academy. She said she had taken no more than 20 seconds, while Byrd estimated the time at a minute. No contraband was found.
A three-judge appeals court panel ordered Byrd's civil rights suit dismissed in 2009, citing the jail's security needs and past rulings allowing female guards to pat down clothed male prisoners and observe naked male inmates.
But after the full appeals court ordered a rehearing, a majority of Wednesday's panel said cross-gender probes of intimate areas violate the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches.
Forget about the strip search; how about having to wear pink underwear in jail? Talk about humiliating...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)