"The actions in this case frankly are disgusting and despicable. It almost defies belief."

That was Judge Graham as he sentenced Detective Thomas Simcox, 50, to just over 11 years (which was more than prosecutors has asked for) and a $100,000 fine. He continued: "On the scale of criminal conduct, this case ranks near the top."

Two other officers fared no better in front of Judge Cohn: Hollywood Police Sgt. Kevin Companion was sentenced to 14 years in prison and Officer Stephen Harrison received a nine-year term.

The case as described by the Sun-Sentinel: "The four officers were arrested in February after an FBI sting caught them — on videotape — dealing in stolen diamonds in Atlantic City; transporting stolen art while using police evidence room receipts as cover; protecting crooked card games; and finally, late last year, running protection for what they thought was a shipment of heroin."

Public corruption cases are always tough on the sentencing judge and the cases always raise a host of issues. Should the sentence be higher for a public official (in this case a police officer) than for someone else who does the same act because the official violates public trust? Or should the sentence be lower if the official has done lots of good for society? Or should these two factors be a wash?

More from the article:

Friday morning's sentencing of Companion, 41, and Harrison, 47, included hours of emotional pleadings, while raising the question of how men who all agreed were caring, compassionate family men and good police officers could turn criminal.The amount of money they received — from $12,000 for Harrison up to $42,000 for Companion — was less than they could have made working overtime and extra details, Hollywood police officials have said."Any sentence would serve not only as punishment of Kevin, but of his family and his kids," a tearful Emily Companion, Sgt. Companion's wife, told U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn as she clutched photos of the couple's two children, her husband crying just a few feet away. "We are suffering every minute of every day."Cohn responded sympathetically: "Ma'am, you know it is always the family who suffers the most. Always." Looking at the pictures, he smiled and said, "your children are beautiful."

Oh boy...

I feel bad for the Kenny Nachwalter lawyer (the original post had her name, but I have since deleted it) who filed a notice to appear for the alleged victim in the Chuckie Taylor case (he's the son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor who has been accused of torture). The problem is that the pleading wasn't filed under seal and the name of this victim is supposed to be secret.

The DBR has the story here.

Any thoughts on whether this article should have been published. Seems newsworthy to me, but others have expressed that the article should not have been written or in the alternative should not have included the victim's name. Thoughts?

Federal Judges are people too

I love this story in So. Florida Magazine featuring our very own Judge Ursula Ungaro, who golfs in her spare time. How cool. Judge Ungaro, known as one of the smartest and sharpest judges in the district, can also hit the ball pretty well. Although she normally plays at the Biltmore or Granada, she has played as far away as George, South Africa where she "had to fend off the monkeys, who were trying to steal the balls out of [their] bags."

"Miami black market aquarium supplier gets jail term"

From the Miami Herald:

A Miami man will forfeit his boat and spend 10 months in jail for illegally harvesting brilliantly colorful corallimorphs, prized for saltwater aquariums, from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Alexandre Alvarenga, 40, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan, who accepted his guilty plea for illegally taking 900 living specimens of Ricordea florida so that he could sell them.

For more on corallimorphs, read here.

Governor Crist appoints John Thornton

John Thornton was appointed to the state circuit bench today. Congrats to John -- a wonderful appointment from our Governor.

Motions for JOA denied

I'm on the road today, but a reliable source emails me that the motions for judgment of acquittal as to all defendants in the Padilla case were denied.

Defense case to begin Thursday.

For an interesting discussion comparing the government action in Padilla to KPMG, check out www.discourse.net, Professor Froomkin's blog. I will post the exact link when I get back to town.

UPDATE -- here's the link to the interesting post.

Julie Kay interviews Chief Judge Moreno

Here.

Lots of good stuff in the article that will make lawyers and non-lawyers happy, like being more permissive with cell phones and laptops. The Chief also plans on making sure that secret dockets are a thing of the past and that all documents are made available to the public:

“I’m a very open person,” Moreno said. “My personal feeling is that if something is said in open court, it should be an open record.”

As for plea deals: "Moreno said the court will continue to study another issue that recently has generated controversy — whether plea agreements should be posted online."

Interesting article and worth a read.

"Dubai leaders ask judge to dismiss camel racing jockey lawsuit"

That's the headline from this AP article.

From the article, it looks like it was a very animated hearing:

U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga did not indicate when she would rule but did ask a number of pointed questions, including whether she has authority over an issue involving people and events in several foreign countries but few ties to the United States.

"All of these claims should be entertained here?" she asked at one point. "None of the parties, none of the interests, none of the defendants are here."

The lawsuit filed last September asks for an unspecified amount of damages for young boys - primarily from Pakistan, Sudan, Mauritania and Bangladesh - who were forced to ride racing camels over a 30-year period in various Persian Gulf countries. The case was brought under a 218-year-old U.S. law known as the Alien Tort Statute, which provides federal courts with jurisdiction over certain civil cases involving foreigners.

But it wasn't easy for the Defendants either:

The Emirates have ended use of children as camel racing jockeys and set up a program with UNICEF to reunite them with their families and provide a range of social and educational services. Agreements between the Emirates and the four jockey source countries also envision creation of a compensation system funded by the Emirates.

Coles told Altonaga that the program is a better way than a lawsuit to address the problem. But the judge questioned whether that was adequate as a legal matter because the case targets the two sheikhs as individuals, rather than as heads of government.

"It doesn't make these individuals accountable in any way," Altonaga said of the jockey program.

Justice Jordan?

When we first started the blog, we argued that the upcoming High Court vacancies should be filled by a Floridian. And during that Supreme Court mania, some of our own judges, like Cecilia Altonaga and Federico Moreno (and 11th Cir. Judge Marcus and Fla. Sup. Ct. Justice Cantero) were mentioned. But instead we got Roberts and Alito...

Now Tom Goldstein, of SCOTUSBlog, theorizes who will be on the shortlist should a Democrat take the White House in 2008. Here is his original post and his follow-up post.

On the list -- Judge Adalberto Jordan! Goldstein says that Jordan makes the shortlist assuming that he quickly ascends to the Eleventh Circuit. Very exciting...

Our old poll on the subject is still up. The current results for the top three:


Stanley Marcus 38%

Federico Moreno 36%

Adalberto Jordan 9%

Government rests in Padilla

Lots of coverage of the Government resting today in the Jose Padilla trial ON FRIDAY THE 13th!

USA Today has this about the final witness from today:

The final prosecution witness Friday was FBI linguist Joyce Kandalaft, who testified that Hassoun's name and telephone number were on a card containing various names and numbers that Padilla was carrying when he was arrested.
She also testified about notations in Arabic made on checks written by Hassoun to Muslim charities and other entities that included the word "tourism." The government contends the word was code for violent jihad. The notations also frequently mentioned support for "brothers."
"Have you ever known the word brother to mean mujahedeen brother?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Killinger.
"Yes, I have," Kandalaft replied.
Kandalaft also testified that Hassoun had included a verse from the Quran on one check that translates to: "And those who do wrong should soon come to know what punishment awaits them."

Strong ending for the Government. It's a nice circle -- tie the defendants together and get back to the coded language.

Then, according to the Herald's Jay Weaver:

"The United States would rest its case in chief at this time,'' prosecutor Russell Killinger said.... U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke gave a stern warning to the 12 Miami-Dade jurors not to talk about the case with anyone, nor to read or watch anything about it. ''You will have to be extra super-duper cautious,'' Cooke advised the jurors, instructing them to return on Thursday, when the defense will begin its case.

Why do lawyers always talk in "woulds"? I would rest; I would argue; I would call so and so witness. It's weird, no? I do it too, I guess, and I don't know why. I like how Judge Cooke says to be "extra super-duper cautious." I always wonder whether jurors really listen to these instructions or whether they hop on the internet...

Here's the AP article by Curt Anderson, which talks about this blog's coverage. Here's the intro to the article:

For a star defendant whose name is known around the world, Jose Padilla has become almost a bit player in his terrorism support trial and some observers say the federal government may not have proved its case against him.
Prosecutors rested their case Friday after nine weeks, 22 witnesses and dozens of FBI wiretap intercepts played at trial, most of them in Arabic with written translations for jurors. Defense lawyers for Padilla and his two co-defendants begin presenting their case next week.

Despite the strong finish, I'm one of those observers:

"Although everyone has been referring to this case as the Padilla trial, the government's case against Padilla has been pretty thin," said David O. Markus, a Miami defense attorney who has frequently written about the case on his legal blog.

I say this because most of the Government's case, including the vast majority of the phone calls played for the jury, involved the other two defendants. As I said before, I think the case against Padilla really comes down to the terror camp form and whether the jury believes that Padilla filled it out and whether they believe he did so with the intent to murder. If yes on both, convicted. If no on either, NG.

The former U.S. Attorney, Guy Lewis, is another observer:

Former Miami U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said prosecutors often are forced to present a "watered-down" case when much evidence is classified to protect national security. It's also a tougher case when there's no "smoking gun" or witness who can swear the defendants committed illegal acts.
"It's a loose-knit conspiracy with very few overt acts," Lewis said. "You didn't catch them committing a terrorist act. Talk only, and talk is cheap."

And, of course, there's the jurors dressing up:

Jurors have sometimes shown up for duty in coordinated clothing, most notably in rows of red, white and blue before the July 4 holiday. That has prompted much speculation among lawyers and legal bloggers about whether they are unified or sending a pro-government message.
"If everyone is thinking the same way at such an early stage, defense lawyers get nervous," Markus said. "Or the prosecution could be nervous because this is obviously a happy jury. Happy juries in a terrorism trial might not be good."
Or, he added, they might simply be bored.

Government to rest in Jose Padilla trial

By lunchtime today, the Government will rest its case in the Jose Padilla trial. Ten weeks, lots of phone calls, expert witnesses, CNN videos, mentions of Playboy, jurors dressing up, reporters being threatened with contempt.... What's next? The defense will argue for judgments of acquittal on Tuesday. If those motions are denied, the jury will return next Thursday.

UPDATED -- THE GOVERNMENT RESTED AROUND NOON TODAY.

Yesterday, an FBI agent said that Padilla was evasive when he was arrested. This from the NY Times:

On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who arrested Mr. Padilla testified that he was evasive about the four years he spent in the Middle East and Pakistan. The agents said a lengthy interview in an airport conference room yielded nothing substantive about his time overseas.
Special Agent Russell Fincher said Mr. Padilla, an American born in Brooklyn, disclosed which neighborhood of Cairo he had lived in for two years and the first name of his roommate there. But he said he had forgotten the address and his roommate’s last name — a suspicious lapse, Mr. Fincher said, since Mr. Padilla, then 31, could recall where he had lived as a child in Chicago.
Mr. Padilla, who had just returned to the United States on a flight from Zurich, also told the agents that he had married an Egyptian woman but could not remember her telephone number.
“It led me to believe that Mr. Padilla was being evasive with regard to his answers about his travels overseas,” Mr. Fincher said.
Under defense questioning, Mr. Fincher conceded that Mr. Padilla could not recall his mother’s phone number or his most recent address in the United States.
Mr. Padilla was carrying a picture of his baby sons at the time of his arrest, Mr. Fincher said, and a piece of paper with his mother’s contact information. Mr. Padilla told the agents that he had never been to Afghanistan, but that he had gone to Pakistan to study Islam on the advice of a Pakistani he met in Saudi Arabia.

And the Government tried to shore up its position on the training camp form:

Earlier Thursday, a government expert in document analysis testified that Mr. Padilla could have filled out the training camp application in July 2000, the date written on it. But under defense questioning, the expert, Gerald LaPorte, acknowledged that there was no way to determine who filled it out or when.

“I can’t render a conclusion at all,” Mr. LaPorte said.

And this from the AP:

Also Thursday, a Secret Service document analyst testified that the form attributed to Padilla was consistent with others recovered by the CIA in a binder in Afghanistan in December 2001. The forms appeared to be authentic and to have been copied from a single original on the same copying equipment, analyst Jerry LaPorte testified.
There were two types of ink and two different pens used to fill out the supposed Padilla form, he added. LaPorte testified he couldn't tell when the entries were completed, although the form bears a date of July 24, 2000.
Prosecutors expect to rest their case Friday, the end of the ninth week of testimony. Defense lawyers are scheduled to begin next week on their case, which will likely continue into August.


I really think the case against Padilla comes down to whether the jury believes that he filled out this form with the intent to go overseas to join a terrorist camp. If the jury has doubt about how and when Padilla's prints were left on this form, he walks. Thoughts?

Shameless self promotion

Yesterday I (along with UM law professor Ricardo Bascuas) filed this lawsuit in an attempt to figure out whether broadcasting legal cockfighting from Puerto Rico on the internet was contrary to 18 U.S.C. 48 or protected by the First Amendment. The website at issue is http://www.toughsportslive.com/

The lawsuit has received considerable buzz in the media and blogosphere. Here's a collection of stories:

1. The New York Times
2. Ann Althouse
3. Volokh Conspiracy
4. The Sun-Sentinel
5. How Appealing
6. Anorak
7. Above the Law
8. Australian Herald Sun

Very exciting....

Playboy and the Padilla trial

This blog has covered Playboy and the law in the past.

Now Playboy has been mentioned in the Padilla trial (via the Miami Herald):

The Jose Padilla terror trial turned light for a moment on Tuesday when a defense lawyer attacked the credentials of a government witness while questioning him about his post-9/11 interview with Playboy magazine.

Attorney William Swor lost his bearings as he tried to ask international terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna about a passage in the November 2002 interview.

''You were not the centerfold,'' Swor quipped, as the dozen Miami-Dade federal jurors laughed.

''It's very important that it was the article on terrorism,'' countered Gunaratna, a Singapore university professor who was born in Sri Lanka. He said he had explain to his mother that former President Jimmy Carter had once done an interview with the "dirty magazine.''

Swor finally got around to asking Gunaratna what he meant when he told Playboy that sometimes the U.S. should ''terminate'' clandestine agents when ''black ops'' run their course. Swor insisted it was a ''euphemism'' for ``kill.''

Gunaratna strongly denied the accusation.

And here's the AP:

Swor repeatedly probed Gunaratna's credentials and previous testimony for inconsistencies. At one point, Swor brought up a November 2002 interview Gunaratna gave to Playboy magazine for a terrorism article in which he criticized the U.S. for being unwilling to "terminate" undercover operatives if things go bad.

"By terminate, you mean kill, right?" Swor said.

"It means you don't work with them any longer," Gunaratna said.
Swor responded skeptically. "You're not just going to give him a pink slip and say, 'See you around,'" he said.

In one of the day's lighter moments, Gunaratna said he wanted the record to show that the Playboy article was on terrorism and had no connection to pornography.

"They might be wondering if I posed naked for Playboy," Gunaratna said, adding that he had a difficult time explaining to his mother how he wound up in the magazine.

Ah, yes. I'm sure the jury was wondering if Gunaratna posed naked for Playboy because he looks a lot like Oona O'Connell.

I hope the jury doesn't get any ideas for dress up from the Playboy mention.

I think the most interesting news is that the Government is set to rest by the end of the week. I wonder how much of a defense there is going to be (if any).

Okay, okay, here's another picture of Oona (which we got from Abovethelaw).

Baseball agents gets 5 years

Yesterday Judge Moore sentenced baseball agent Gustavo ''Gus'' Dominguez to five years in prison. Legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax wrote this letter in support of Dominguez. The Herald covers the sentencing here. And here's a snippet from the article re Koufax:

Koufax, a southpaw and three-time Cy Young winner while pitching for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1950s and 1960s, met Dominguez through friends at the Dodgers training camp in Vero Beach.
''I have always considered Gus to be a person of strong character and high moral principles,'' Koufax wrote. ``He has an unshakable love for his culture and does his best to serve as a role model to the players he represents, especially Latin players.''
Dominguez's defense team said the agent asked his old friend to travel from Southern California for the sentencing -- but he could not make the trip. Koufax, ranked 26th among The Sporting News' ''100 Greatest Baseball Players,'' instead wrote the letter.

Two very interesting articles from today's papers:

1. Jay Weaver covers the Chuckie Taylor case and explains that the accuser's ID is going to be released:

For months, Miami prosecutors and defense lawyers representing the son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor have wrestled over one main issue: the identity of the man who accused the younger Taylor of torturing him five years ago in a police agent's home in Liberia.
Prosecutors have wanted the information kept a secret for the victim's safety; Taylor's attorneys have sought its disclosure to mount a defense for a September trial in federal court.
Thanks to a recent judge's order, Charles ''Chuckie'' Taylor Jr. and his defense team are finally going to learn his accuser's name.
But there's a catch. Taylor is only allowed to see the alleged victim's name. His lawyers cannot give him ''any tangible materials'' identifying his accuser. Nor can Taylor, who is in federal custody, disclose the accuser's name without his lawyers' approval.
And, his identity cannot be made public by either side until trial.
The strict rules about the alleged victim's name are yet another uncommon development in the unique Miami case against Taylor, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen born in Boston and raised in the Orlando area. It is the first U.S. prosecution of a human-rights violation committed in a foreign country.

2. Vanessa Blum has this article about Padilla co-defendant Amin Hassoun. Blum details how Hassoun is the focus of the government's case and that in the wiretapped calls "Padilla comes across as an almost peripheral figure." Here's a bit more:

In private, Hassoun's views were something less than neighborly.On a 1996 call played for jurors, Hassoun can be heard fuming over a photo published in an Islamic newsletter of a Muslim man shaking hands with Hillary Clinton."The only way to deal with those people is with the sword," he says.Hassoun's lawyers are the first to concede their client's words were sometimes offensive. But that, they say, does not make him a terrorist."He may have ranted and raved, he may have a big mouth, and yes, he did engage in provocative, passionate and political speech, but at all times he did so to help protect and defend Muslims under attack," attorney Jeanne Baker said in her opening remarks to the jury.Hassoun; Padilla, 36; and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 45, are charged with taking part in a terror cell that sent money, equipment and human recruits to support violent Islamic groups overseas. All three have pleaded not guilty.Though Hassoun and Padilla both initially were arrested just weeks apart in 2002, Padilla's case has drawn more attention because of the "dirty bomber" label and high-profile legal challenges to his 3 ½ year detention without charges at a U.S. Navy brig.

Hitting the ground running

Our new Chief Judge, Federico Moreno, has issued a bunch of administrative orders in his first week on the job. Julie Kay covers all the activity, including "revamp[ing] the way naturalization ceremonies and emergency motions will be handled by assigning judges on a rotating basis to oversee them." The Chief also assigned the judges to different committees. Here's a list of the chairs from the article:

He assigned Judge Joan Lenard to chair the committee on the clerk’s office; Judge Donald Graham to chair the committee on the budget; Judge Jordan to chair the committee on court reporters and interpreters; Judge Huck to chair the committee on magistrate judges; Judge Cooke to chair the committee on probation; Judge Donald Middlebrooks to chair the committee on rules; Judge Martinez to chair the committee on security; and Judge Altonaga to chair the committee on automation. He also appointed Graham as liaison to the Fort Pierce courthouse project; Judge William Dimitrouleas as liaison to the Fort Lauderdale courthouse project; Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley as liaison to the West Palm Beach courthouse project; Graham as liaison to the Criminal Justice Act panel; Judge K. Michael Moore as liaison to the General Services Administration; Judge Alan S. Gold as liaison to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court; and Judge Jordan as liaison to the Volunteer Lawyers Project.

Here are the orders, courtesy of the DBR.

Fun Padilla coverage in the NYTimes

Sunday's New York Times covers some of the craziness occurring in the Jose Padilla trial. Here we go with some highlights:

Mr. Padilla looks relaxed most days, only seldom betraying tension when his jaw muscles twitch or his shoulders hunch in his business suit. He laughs softly when his lawyers joke, and he smiles at his mother when she comes to court on Fridays. He seems to follow the tortuous proceedings closely, but what he is thinking is anyone’s guess.

What kind of joke could you make to a guy who was held without charges or any real human contact for three years? And isn't it always "anyone's guess" as to what a defendant is thinking?

Where Mr. Padilla eats lunch is one mystery of the trial, . . .

That's a mystery of the trial? Well, here you go -- he's eating in the holding cells in the courthouse. And he usually gets a horrible bologna and cheese sandwich.

. . . but a far larger question looms: What must the jurors be thinking? . . . (One can imagine the jurors in deliberations, arguing over whether “eating cheese” means waging jihad or enjoying a chunk of Gruyère.)

Ah, we're back to wondering what others are thinking... I'm willing to bet a lot of money that no juror utters the word Gruyere. Any takers?

Since the trial began on May 14, their own lives have sometimes proved more dramatic than the case. One juror’s sister died of cancer last week; she wept during a break the next day, prompting Judge Marcia Cooke to dismiss court early. Another was injured trying to stop a car thief; he was excused.

Judge Cooke is very considerate. The jurors must absolutely love her. I know the lawyers do.

Several times now, the five women and seven men have shown up in color-coordinated outfits. One day, the men dressed in blue and the women in pink. On July 3, the first row wore red, the second white and the third blue, leading bloggers to wonder whether they were worrisomely frivolous or unified — or so patriotic as to condemn all accused terrorists.

I've been picking on the reporter a bit, but now I sorta like her. She mentions our scoop on the jurors wearing colors to court. Why no shout out!! Come on!!

The most interesting things almost always happen when the jurors are not around. That is when the lawyers complain to Judge Cooke, often bitterly, about each other’s conduct and plans. Once in a while they even fix each other with death stares, as if summoning a voodoo curse.

Now this is good stuff. Maybe I should start a new poll -- who has the best death stare in the trial? Please discuss!

Tensions erupt so often that some days it seems the jurors are filing out to their break room every few minutes. The lawyers have fought over whether the government could use the term “violent jihad” (no), whether it could show jurors a CNN interview with Osama bin Laden (yes) and whether the cross-examination of a witness could last longer than direct questioning.

They complain of insufficient warning about exhibits and accuse each other of prejudicing the jury.
“Your honor, this is insanity,” John Shipley, an assistant attorney general, said last week, complaining about a late-night e-mail message he received from one of Mr. Hassoun’s lawyers.

Some more interesting stuff, but time to pick on the reporter a little again. "Assistant Attorney General"? Nope. Try again. Shipley is an Assistant United States Attorney. But I do like the quote. STOP THE INSANITY!

Judge Cooke usually listens patiently [when the lawyers bicker out of the presence of the jury] while the jurors do who-knows-what — coordinate their outfits, perhaps — in the break room. But last week she blew up at Jeanne Baker, a lawyer for Mr. Hassoun, calling her “disrespectful” after Ms. Baker talked over a government objection.
“Tell the jurors to take 10 minutes,” Judge Cooke said, adding, “I’m taking 10 minutes.”
She adjourned court early that day. There are still weeks to go.

Oh boy. Doesn't sound good for Baker. To get Judge Cooke angry, you really have to mess something up.... Even though I picked at the article, I enjoyed it. It's interesting to cover a trial with good lawyering on both sides...

Big shout out to the blog

NBC's Nick Bogert in his weekly "Bogert's Brief" discusses Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. He read this post about my initial reaction to the decision to commute the sentence and asked if we could do an interview. The blog gets a prominent mention and the website address is even displayed. Pretty cool. Here's the video.

It's always interesting doing these interviews and seeing what portions they pick to put on the air. (There's an awful lot of me typing and sitting at the computer, which is very strange when they are filming. I kept typing -- this is really weird, this is really weird -- until they told me to stop.)

"Feds: Miami terror cell practiced with paintball"

That's the headline in this AP article about the Miami 7 from Liberty City who are charged with conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower. My favorite part of the article:

Some were clearly bewildered by what had happened to them. One of those arrested in June 2006 even asked the FBI agents interrogating him whether he could have some of the marijuana he had been carrying, according to the statements filed recently in federal court.

That defendant, 23-year-old Naudimar Herrera, asked for ''a rub of my green'' after the agents showed him a videotape of the group swearing loyalty to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, at the direction of an FBI informant the men knew as Mohammed.

''Herrera said that he needed the substance to calm his nerves. . . . Herrera was provided with a bottle of water to drink and was allowed to take a restroom break,'' an FBI summary said.

Classic.

More thoughts on the Padilla jury

As detailed below, a bunch of different blogs are commenting on the Padilla jury. And we have had some interesting comments too. A person who claims to have been on the Libby jury has written in:


J said...
On the Libby jury, we all wore red on Valentine's Day. This jury is wearing red white and blue for the Fourth of July. It wasn't a sign of anything then and it should not be read as one now. It's simply a way to relieve the tension and boredom of being in the courtroom for all those hours. It's hard to keep up, believe me, when it's summer and you're thinking about what to put on the grill rather than what a poor case the government is putting on.
1:04 PM


Interesting. I'm swamped right now so I can't comment further, but I will try to get to it this weekend.

Happy birthday SDFLA blog

It's been two great years doing this blog. We started Fourth of July weekend two years ago, and since then readership has shot up (last year we were averaging about 175 hits a day, now we are up to well over 300 per day), a bunch of other local blogs have started to cover the courts, and we continue to have fun doing it.

Here is our first post, arguing that the President should appoint a Floridian to the Supreme Court (apparently, he didn't listen!).

And here is our one year anniversary post.

Our second year anniversary post, about the jurors dressing up in the Padilla trial, has gotten a bunch of attention. Thanks to the Volokh Conspiracy, the Wall Street Journal legal blog, Rumpole, Discourse, The National Review, TalkLeft, and a bunch of others for linking to that post. Our numbers are way up because of it...

Dress up day...

So, I thought I was being extremely festive today... not only did I dress up my four year old daughter in red, white, and blue for camp, I even wore a red tie to work. That's nothing though.

In the Jose Padilla trial, jurors showed up today all dressed up. Row one in red. Row two in white. And row three in blue. I'm not kidding.

And this isn't the first time the jury has dressed up. A week back, all of the jurors (save one) wore black.

So what do you make of this. On the one hand, the jury might just be having some fun. This is a long trial and it's not a one hour Law and Order show. It's boring.

Perhaps the jury is unified, which might be a poor sign for the defense. If everyone is thinking the same way at such an early stage, defense lawyers get nervous. Or the prosecution might be concerned because this is obviously a happy jury. Happy juries during a terrorism trial might not be good.

The trial is in recess until next Monday so the lawyers will have plenty of time to make themselves crazy over what all this means.

Any thoughts?

Happy Fourth of July!

UPDATE -- Curt Anderson says that in addition to the black and the red, white, and blue, last Friday all the women wore pink and the men blue. What is going on? Anderson also details how the government expert Rohan Gunaratna was scolded by Judge Cooke today for appearing on CNN yesterday. Dan Christensen and Jay Weaver explain here that the expert is under attack by the defense.

Thoughts on Scooter

President Bush's commutation of Scooter isn't that surprising. But his comments about why he commuted the sentence are:

[C]ritics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury....

Mr. Libby was sentenced to 30 months of prison, two years of probation and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.

I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend 30 months in prison....

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting.

I agree with the President on these points. Defendants shouldn't be punished for conduct which they have not agreed to or which hasn't been proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. First time non-violent offenders in many cases should not receive jail time. There are alternatives to incarceration that work in many many cases and will work for Scooter Libby. We don't have to worry that he will be reoffending.

The problem with the President's reasoning is that the Sentencing Guidelines prescribe this result and his administration continues to push these guidelines in every case, no matter the individual circumstances. This, of course, is wrong -- not just in Scooter's case, but in a great deal of cases. I hope sentencing judges and prosecutors look at the President's comments and see that the Guidelines need not be applied mechanistically in every case.

Cuban spy speaks

BBC World Service program Newshour has the exclusive interview with convicted Cuban spy Gerardo Hernandez, who received a life sentence from Judge Lenard. His case is still on appeal and is set to be argued in August.

Looks to be an interesting interview. Jay Weaver covers it here. Here's the intro:

A convicted Cuban spy network leader admitted in a prison interview that he was an ''agent'' for Cuba's government, but that he infiltrated South Florida to defend his homeland against alleged attacks by Miami exile ``terrorists.''

Gerardo Hernandez, imprisoned for life in a federal penitentiary in California, said he was not guilty of conspiring with the Cuban air force to shoot down exile pilots over the Florida Straits in 1996 as part of his spy mission.

''Absolutely not,'' Hernandez, 40, said in an interview with the BBC World Service program Newshour, which airs today. During the exclusive interview, Hernandez said the ''worst part'' of his imprisonment was not being able to see his wife of 19 years because the U.S. government has rejected giving her a visa.

Hernandez said he also spoke by phone two years ago with Fidel Castro, who said ''he was confident that justice will prevail'' in the spy case.

New Chief Judge

Congrats to Judge Moreno on becoming Chief Judge of the Southern District of Florida. And a big thank you to Judge Zloch for his service over the past 7 years. It's not an easy position and it's mostly thankless. Here's the district's press release about the change. Any thoughts as to how the district will change with the new chief?

PRESS RELEASE

Judge Federico A. Moreno Succeeds Judge William J. Zloch
as Chief United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida

Effective July 1, 2007, Federico A. Moreno succeeds William J. Zloch as Chief United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Judge Zloch, appointed to the District Court in November 1985, became Chief Judge on July 1, 2000 and was eligible to serve for seven years as Chief Judge. He concluded his seven-year term as Chief Judge on June 30, 2007. Judge Moreno, appointed to the District Court in July 1990, is the next judge in order of seniority eligible to assume the duties of Chief Judge. The duties of the District’s Chief Judge are listed at 3.00.00 of the Southern District of Florida’s Internal Operating Procedures available under “Rules” on the Court’s internet site: http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/.

The Southern District of Florida spans eight South Florida counties with a total population estimated at over 6.3 million residents. The District is among the busiest federal trial court jurisdictions in the country and is served by 18 active district judges, five senior district judges, 18 magistrate judges, and about 550 employees. The Court conducts sessions in Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Fort Pierce.

Chief Judge Moreno’s chambers are located in the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, 99 NE Fourth Street, Miami, Florida.

Contact:
Clarence Maddox, Court Administrator
United States District Court
301 N. Miami Avenue
Room 321
Miami, Florida 33128

ADDED: Isn't it nice that we don't have any chief controversies. Check out Rumpole and JAABlog for the craziness in Broward Circuit Court!

The Government Strikes Back

From all accounts, this past week was the Government's strongest in the Jose Padilla trial. Its expert witness, Rohan Gunaratna, supposedly did a very nice job on direct. Cross-examination will take a while, and with Court in session on Monday and Tuesday only this week, he will likely be on the stand for the next two weeks. Here's the AP on Gunaratna ("A prosecution terrorism expert testified Friday that a form purportedly filled out by Jose Padilla was identical to those used by al-Qaida for recruits to its premier al-Farooq training camp in Afghanistan.").

To top it off, jurors also saw Padilla co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun in shackles outside the courtroom. Hassoun's lawyers weren't too happy. Mistrial denied.

UM law student turned Playboy model

Here we are covering the Jose Padilla trial and we missed this: University of Miami Law student Oona O'Connell is a model and actress, having posed for Playboy. AboveTheLaw blogger David Lat has all the details, pictures, and correspondence.

She tells Lat how she got into modeling:

"I started modeling to pay the exorbitant fees charged by UM Law, but I ended up graduating early to model full time because I love it. Playboy was one of my first modeling jobs ever, and while I have moved away from the whole glamour/sexy thing into much more commercial and fashion fields, I still am very proud to have been a part of the Playboy family."

Wanna read and see more? Check out Lat & Oona here.

New Courthouse Watch...

It's been 126 days since the Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse was dedicated.

Over/Under on it opening is January 1, 2008. Any bets?

Whoops

Today the Eleventh Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed a sentence meted out by Judge Donald Graham in United States v. Aguirre-Lopez. One of the issues raised by Aguirre-Lopez was that the 11th Circuit should wait until the Supreme Court decided Rita before issuing an opinion. The 11th Circuit said that wasn't necessary -- it need not wait on the High Court to issue an opinion in Rita because it wouldn't affect the outcome. Fair enough..... except one thing: the Supreme Court decided Rita last Thursday and Aguirre Lopez came out today. WHOOPS!

Go, Dore, Go!

One of my daughter's favorite TV shows is Go, Diego, Go!

Now we have a new blog feature: Go, Dore, Go! We'll track the fun quotes from Marshall Dore Louis during the Padilla trial (previous quotes here and here). Louis is second chair to Bill Swor, who represents Padilla co-defendant Kifah Wael Jayyousi.

The latest from today's Miami Herald:

''These gentlemen are not accused of conspiring to kill Americans,'' said Jayyousi's attorney, Marshall Dore Louis. ``It just inflames the jury against bin Laden more than they already are.''

They love Osama

That's the prosecution theme in the Jose Padilla trial.


It started in opening. And it continued yesterday with the government calling al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna. This is all leading up to the government playing a CNN interview with Osama bin Laden, which Judge Cooke already has said portions can be played.

So can this evidence link any of the defendants to any al Qaeda attacks? According to Jay Weaver:

None of the evidence presented in the Miami trial links the three men to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks or any other alleged al Qaeda attacks during the previous decade.

It's not even clear to me why this expert or the CNN tape is relevant to the charges in this trial. The CNN tape is relevant, the government says, because two of the defendants (not Padilla) watched it and discussed it. Hmmmm. Think about that for a second. You better start thinking about the shows you watch or the websites you visit.

As for Padilla's argument that he only was captured on tape a couple of times, here's Curt Anderson describing the re-direct of the government's case agent:

On Monday, he also said Padilla likely spoke with Hassoun on many more occasions than the seven substantive telephone intercepts on which his voice appears. They met at a mosque in Florida, Kavanaugh said, and also used letters and human couriers to communicate.

Huh? "Likely"? What does that mean? Where's the actual proof? Isn't that what the tapes are for? They recorded hundreds of thousands of calls, but they "likely" spoke on other occassions not captured?

But they loved Osama.

For me, the real controversy is how to spell al Qaeda (Miami Herald spelling). Or is it al Qaida (AP spelling). Blogger doesn't like either spelling.

Monday Morning...

Monday morning has me swamped....

So, if you are interested in the big Supreme Court decisions that came out today (including the Bong Hits for Jesus case), check out Scotusblog.com.

If you are interested in reading a great legal blog, check out the WSJ blog.

If you want fun legal gossip, check out Abovethelaw.com

And if you want some law and some other interesting stuff all mixed together, check out Althouse.

And there's always Rumpole for our state court updates.

Will get back to SDFLA news as soon as I can.

More discovery leaks in the Miami 7 case

This case -- this is the "terrorist" case about the 7 guys in Miami who discussed blowing up the Sears Tower in Chicago -- hasn't been in the news in a while. The last time it was, we were discussing leaks. Here we go again.

This time prosecutors made public the post-arrest statements of the defendants. And the defense lawyers are none too pleased. According to Vanessa Blum of the Sun-Sentinel:

Defense lawyers for Abraham and Augustin lashed out at prosecutors for publicly filing the statements from their clients, which they are trying to keep out of the trial.

A summary of statements themselves:

The man federal authorities accused of plotting with an al-Qaida operative to bomb the Chicago Sears Tower and government buildings in Miami told FBI agents he was trying to hustle a man he knew as Mohammed for money.At first Narseal Batiste, a Liberty City resident, denied ever discussing such attacks, according to notes from an interview conducted after his arrest exactly one year ago.

He changed his story after the agents played a videotape showing him and several accused associates reciting an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. The pledge was led by an informant working undercover for the FBI who called himself Mohammed and posed as an al-Qaida contact from Yemen."I can't believe I got these guys into this," Batiste said after watching the video, according to the FBI notes.

Happy meal lawyer sanctioned

Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff ordered William P. Smith, of the famous comment that the judge was "a few french fries short of a Happy Meal", to take an online course in professionalism administered by the Florida Bar. Smith could have had his pro hac vice license pulled, which would have been a big blow to his practice. In addition, he is going to do pro bono work and has agreed to step down as the head of McDermott Will & Emery's bankruptcy practice.

Did this thing get a wee bit overblown? Thoughts?

TMZ ordered to show cause...

...for posting the entire book IF I DID IT -- OJ's "fictional" account of the murders. Bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol (pictured) had a hearing on the emergency motion today and ordered TMZ to show cause why he should not hold them in contempt. Here is trustee Drew Dillworth's* motion.

Some background from the Smoking Gun:

A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee wants a gossip web site held in contempt for its publication yesterday of the entire manuscript of "If I Did It," O.J. Simpson's purportedly fictionalized account of the murder of his ex-wife and a male friend. The "exclusive" posting of the 235-page book by TMZ.com came days after a federal judge ruled that the work's copyright can be pursued by the family of the late Ron Goldman, who was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson in June 1994 (Simpson was acquitted of the killings). According to an emergency motion by Drew Dillworth, the federal trustee, the web site's posting of the manuscript in a downloadable PDF format has likely "diminished or destroyed" the value of the book, which the Goldmans may eventually publish (and promote) as Simpson's confession.

*Disclosure: Drew Dillworth works at Stearns Weaver where my wife works.

Caruso on cross

Lead Jose Padilla lawyer, Michael Caruso, cross-examined the lead FBI agent today and by all accounts, did a ton of damage.

The agent conceded that Padilla never used any of the code words that the other defendants had used. And he admitted that Padilla was focused on learning Arabic and memorizing the Koran. Some examples from the AP article:

Caruso asked Kavanaugh if Padilla ever was heard using what prosecutors say were code words for violent jihad, such as "picnic," "smelling fresh air" or "eating cheese."
"No, he does not," Kavanaugh replied.

***

Caruso asked Kavanaugh if Padilla was ever overheard discussing jihad training.
"No jihad training that I've seen," Kavanaugh said.

***

"He's not referring to anything here but studying Arabic, correct? Study means study, right?" Caruso asked.
"That's what they're talking about," Kavanaugh testified.

More on Caruso's cross from the Miami Herald here.

This isn't the first time that the defense has scored points on cross. See here and here and here and here. My wife says boring (but she's watching a rerun of Brothers & Sisters, so what does she know!). I say fascinating.

My wife says this blog is boring.

Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin resigns

The DBR has the scoop here. First Judge Korda, and now Seidlin...

You remember Judge Seidlin -- the one who cried during the Anna Nicole litigation. State court, especially in Broward, seems so much more exciting than the Southern District, no?

I'm sure lots of commentary to follow from the Broward Blog.

Back to the Padilla trial

The Padilla trial was back in action yesterday.

According to the AP, "William Swor sought to prove his client Kifah Wael Jayyousi was driven to charity by his compassion for his fellow Muslims, not to supporting terrorism, a defense that began last week."

The Herald also covered the defense cross of the agent here:

''It's clear from Dr. Jayyousi's state of mind that he was concerned about getting relief to the Chechnyans in Russia,'' said defense lawyer William Swor, citing one FBI-intercepted phone call in March 1995.
''He made such statements,'' FBI Special Agent John T. Kavanaugh Jr. acknowledged under cross examination.
Kavanaugh has been on the witness stand for the past two weeks in the terror trial against Jayyousi, Adham Amin Hassoun and Jose Padilla, asserting the three Muslim men used code words such as ''tourism'' for ''jihad'' to conceal their true militant mission.

And Vanessa Blum has this very interesting article about Jose Padilla's conversion to Islam, which occurred while he was in the Broward County Jail. After he converts and is released, he gives a radio interview which Blum obtained and covers. Definitely worth a read, but here's a snippet:

Upon his release from jail, Padilla called Islamic organizations out of the Yellow Pages seeking a Koran, the holy text of Islam.He also took a job at a Taco Bell in Davie. The manager, Mohammed Javed, who was Muslim, finally gave him a copy of the Koran, Padilla says. Javed could not be reached for comment.
"I stuck to the book and just read and read and read," Padilla says. "I read it once and then I went back and read it twice."Javed invited him to attend a South Florida mosque. When Padilla saw the clothing and the worshipers' turbans, he recalled his vision."I said 'yes' this is it," Padilla says. "This is what the Almighty wants me to be."At the end of the interview, the host asks Padilla for his advice to non-Muslims."Don't believe all the propaganda that is being portrayed out there about Islam, about terrorism and extremists," Padilla replies.

"How did you know Judge Paine was on vacation? He wore a plaid shirt to work."

That's from the Palm Beach Post's coverage of Judge James C. Paine's retirement from the Southern District of Florida. Judge Paine is a President Carter appointee and has been a favorite among SDFLA practitioners because he judges from the old school. More from the article:

If you ask a passel of South Florida lawyers about Paine - winners or losers in cases from all quarters - many will mention his impartiality and demeanor. That he is the perfect persona of a judge, and still a humble human being.
Paine, of Palm Beach, spoke at the reception, saying he was flabbergasted by the number of people who came out on the rainy day. "You folks are awfully nice to be here," he said in the genteel way the lawyers speak of.
That is not to say that he demurred from bold statements, very bold.
In 1991, Paine called for controlled substances to be legalized. Drugs. Marijuana. Cocaine.
In a speech to lawyers, he described how the federal courts were overwhelmed with drug prosecutions and that he believed the war on drugs was lost.
"Alcohol didn't cause the high crime rates of the '20s and '30s, Prohibition did. And drugs do not cause today's alarming crime rates, but drug prohibition does," the judge said then.
South Florida's chief federal prosecutor at the time recalls it was a stunner. Former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey said Paine's comments started legitimate debate on the topic. "When a person with that high level of respect makes those remarks, they continue to resonate," Coffey said.

All the best to Judge Paine. We'll miss having you on the bench.

I have no idea what to title this post...

This week's Neighbors section in the Miami Herald profiled a local lawyer, Carolyn Kellman, AKA CK (pictured at left, from the Herald article). She works at Adorno & Yoss. From the article:

Passions du jour: I love accessories because they make an outfit. They don't have to be expensive but it should be coup de coeur (love at first sight). Fabulous stiletto shoes and soft, smooshy, large leather bags. I love black clothes, which I think has to do with being a New Yorker. You can take the girl out of New York but you can't take New York out of the girl.

Look: I like to mix high and low with new and old. Sophisticated, yet fun. I want to stand out for my unique fashion flare.

Here's her bio on A&Y. Her experience: Collections, Landlord/Tenant disputes, and workouts.

More: "Carolyn Kellman is a Partner in the Firm's Miami office and member of the Collections Department. Ms. Kellman focuses her practice in large-scale commercial collections with an emphasis on stipulated settlement workouts and landlord tenant workout and lease issues. She represents numerous national collection agencies, assisting them with resolutions with South Florida debtors. She also acts as a "lawyer-liaison" for clients who want their countrywide collections administered by a sole source."

Rumpole has been saying that I'm stealing his stuff, so I've moved away from his state court coverage to this piece, which is more like, say, AboveTheLaw..... I guess I'll go back to Padilla tomorrow. Hope everyone had a nice Father's Day weekend.

You can't make this stuff up...

Pot smoking judge resigns.

Judge of 50 years resigns for sexual comments.

Lawyer really really really sorry for happy meal comments to judge. (previous coverage here).

And police officers arrest man for asking them for warrant before cutting down his tree during the citrus canker days.* Then they make him watch the cutting down of said tree before throwing him in the slammer for 18 hours. Happy ending -- After a trial before Judge Lenard, a jury awards man some money.

Keep laughing Mr. Lat!!

*The cutting down of our fruit trees was perhaps the dumbest policy decision ever in this State. Is everyone still enjoying their $50 giftcards? (But I'm biased: See Markus v. Department of Agriculture, 785 So.2d 595 (3rd DCA 2001)).

News and Notes

1. There's a bunch of reaction in the comments and in articles this morning to the life sentence recommended by the jury in the Kenneth Wilk case. Here's the Herald article and the Sun-Sentinel article. Both mention that the majority of jurors were against the death penalty. I'm not sure what that means because the jury had to be "death qualified." I think Wilk's jury consultant will be getting a bunch of calls soon.

2. Julie Kay covers an interesting case where a NYSE company asked that its directors' addresses be removed from an animal rights' website. Judge Hurley denied the motion. So, you can get these addresses from websites, but we still can't get plea agreements online. Explain! (And to be clear, I'm not saying that I disagree with Judge Hurley's decision. What I really cannot understand is our District's policy of keeping public documents offline.)

3. Rumpole has been following the strange circumstances surrounding Judge Gerald Klein's recent resignation in state court. The DBR has lots of coverage today, including the resignation letter.

Big firm salaries in Miami

Above the law covers Miami salaries here.

From an April DBR article:

Playing its hand in the South Florida associate pay stakes, Greenberg Traurig raised the starting base salaries of its rookie lawyers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to $135,000 and their total compensation packages to more than $150,000....
The base salary of Greenberg’s first-year lawyers now will match that of White & Case, which in February announced that it had raised first-year salaries to $135,000 in Miami.
Holland & Knight, Hogan & Hartson and Akerman Senterfitt recently raised salaries for rookie lawyers to $130,000 in South Florida.
Hunton & Williams has raised its first-year salaries to $145,000 in Miami. Two New York-based firms, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Boies Schiller & Flexner, pay first-years $160,000 in their South Florida offices.


Any thoughts?

Kenneth Wilk sentenced to life

Most people that I spoke to thought that he was going to get death, but as I said earlier, the federal death penalty is very difficult to achieve:

The death penalty phase is coming up. Although many death penalty advocates will point to this case as the prototypical case for death (the admitted shooting of a cop), I'd be surprised if Wilk gets sentenced to death. The federal death penalty is an almost extinct dinosaur. The standards for being qualified to do a federal death penalty case are so high that the lawyering is always at a very high level, as it was in this case.

Any reaction to the life sentence?

More Padilla and Wilk stuff

1. Jose Padilla's voice was heard again today in Court. Apparently that's newsworthy.

2. The AP's request (earlier coverage here) for same day access to the tapes played by the Government was denied, but the Court gave the media next day access.

3. The Miami Herald has written about the lead prosecutor and lead defense lawyer in Kenneth Wilk's trial. Here's the story about Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kastrenakes and here's the one on Bill Matthewman.


on the left is Bill Matthewman's picture from the Herald article and on the right is John Kastrenakes' picture from the Herald article

Alberto Gonzalez in town

Julie Kay covers Alberto Gonzalez's talk yesterday in Miami:

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales came to Miami Monday to talk about the threat of nuclear terrorism worldwide — but ducked questions about whether he will keep his job and about a new immigration judge scandal involving his Department of Justice.

"Ducked"? More like a sitting duck...

Gonzales was the luncheon keynote speaker at the Global Initiative Nuclear Terrorism Law Enforcement Conference in Miami. Law enforcement officials from 36 countries are attending the weeklong conference, featuring speakers including FBI Director Robert Mueller and New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. After his speech about how countries must work together to intercept and foil plots by terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons, Gonzales fended off questions from reporters at a brief news conference. His demeanor was calm, even bemused. He didn’t seem ruffled, as he frequently was during his recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating the alleged political firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Why be upset? Why get ruffled? He works for the Decider!

When asked how he can be effective while facing an unusual no-confidence vote in the Senate Gonzales said: “I’m not focusing on what the Senate is doing, I’m focusing on my job. That’s what the American people expect. I serve at the pleasure of the president.” By deadline Monday afternoon, the Senate had not yet voted on the non-binding resolution. When asked about an editorial in the New York Times Monday calling for his ouster, Gonzales laughed and said, “I haven’t read it.” Like President Bush, he said, “I remain focused on sprinting to the finish line. The issues we’re working on are too darned important. That’s why I’m here today talking about global terrorism. That’s why I was in Mexico recently talking about violent crime.” When asked by a reporter if he could still be effective in his job, he answered: “I’m still meeting with my counterparts and they’re interested in meeting with me.” Gonzales also was asked about a report in Monday’s Washington Post that the Bush administration and the Justice Department emphasized Republican Party loyalty over expertise in selecting immigration judges.

Read a newspaper?! Ha! No need to read newspapers! Let's go sprinting.

Gonzales declined to comment on the Post report except to say, “I don’t approve of practices that are not permitted by law.” He also deflected questions about why Jose Padilla, currently standing trial in Miami with several co-defendants for allegedly plotting acts of terrorism, was never indicted or charged with plotting to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb, as the Justice Department originally accused him. “He’s currently on trial and it would not be appropriate for me to comment,” he said. But he’s not standing trial for the dirty bomb charge, a reporter countered. “I will not comment on any activities involving Mr. Padilla that are not in the indictment,” Gonzales responded.

Yes, he left that to his predecessor John Aschcroft.

There's a new warden in town

The current warden of the Federal Detention Center in Miami, Florida -- Loren Grayer -- is moving. No word yet on the new warden.

Maybe I'm a sucker, but...

... I feel bad for Paris Hilton.

If she wasn't a celebrity, she wouldn't be treated this way. She'd be on house arrest right now and that would be it. She probably wouldn't have even gotten the 45 day sentence in the first place (for driving with a suspended license).

I actually think the fight between the judge and the jail as to who controls release dates and other prison decisions is very interesting. Most would think that of course the judge trumps the jail, but criminal practitioners know that judges oftentimes defer to jailors and marshals even though I believe that judges would and should win if a true showdown occurred.

Here's a prior post about a judge not backing down to the jail in a case that I was involved with.