Jose Padilla's First Appearance

I attended Jose Padilla's first appearance today in the Southern District of Florida. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber presided. The lead Miami prosecutor on the case is Russell Killinger, a well-respected veteran in the Southern District of Florida. In court, Judge Garber told Padilla that his lawyers, Andrew Patel and Donna Newman, called chambers and said they wanted to appear, so the Judge postponed the hearing until tomorrow at 4PM. Just in case, the Miami Federal Public Defender's office was present in court.

Padilla appeared calm in court, answering the Judge politely with short yes-or-no responses. Garber explained to Padilla his rights, which was interesting as Padilla has been held for the past three years while lawyers wrangled over what sorts of rights he has.

Padilla had a short haircut. He was wearing glasses, black sneakers and an orange jumpsuit. The amount of security was amazing. Helicopters were flying over the courthouse. There were numerous marshals and court security officers in the courtroom. And there was lots of press. I'm sure they were disappointed by the three minute hearing.

Nevertheless, there was a certain electricity in the courtroom. The Southern District is a very exciting place to practice law right now, especially with Padilla and Abramoff fighting for above-the-fold coverage.

Jack Abramoff's hats

So everyone can see what the comment below was referring to, here are the two hats Abramoff wore for the DC plea and the Miami plea.

And the Justice Building Blog calls us too law based...

Bigger than Abramoff?

The Supreme Court agreed with the government's request to transfer Padilla to the Southern District of Florida to face criminal charges here. Nothing in the order... Just a summary thing. Here is SCOTUS Blog's summary of the action. Now it's a toss-up between Abramoff and Padilla for biggest case in the country right now...

Abramoff plea and other items...

Here is Jack Abramoff's plea agreement that was entered into here in Miami. A couple things to note -- Abramoff agreed to over $20 million in loss, that he used sophisticated means, more than minimal planning, that his actions affected a financial institution, and that he derived more than a million bucks... More significantly, he agreed that the sentencing guidelines would be binding and that he would not appeal his sentence. His only chance to get under the 70-87 month guideline sentence is if he successfully cooperates and if the government files a motion saying so. He and his lawyers must be pretty sure he can give up some big fish...

On a lighter note, a commenter points out:

Anonymous said...
What's the deal with Abramoff's hats? In D.C. he wore an old school fedora and down here he had a baseball cap on. I know his lawyers are giving him excellent legal advice, but who is giving him fashion advice?

Biggest case in the country?

Although the Abramoff case is getting tons of press, I don't think it's getting enough. To me, this is not only the biggest case in the Southern District of Florida right now, it's the biggest case in the country.

Cuban Five and Abramoff news

The breaking news banner on CNN.com this morning is that Abramoff has agreed to a plea deal. Details when I find them out... (update -- here's the CNN article).

In other news, Julie Kay has written about the government's opposition to the amicus briefs filed in the Cuban Spy case. I previously posted about the fight here. Here's some of the article:

The latest twist in the high-profile case came last week when the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami filed a motion seeking to block the 11th Circuit’s acceptance of two amicus briefs filed by state and national legal organizations that oppose the government’s position. The motion sharply urged the 11th Circuit not to accept the briefs. Two days later, Ricardo Bascuas, a University of Miami law professor who authored one of the amicus briefs, filed a strongly worded reply opposing the government’s position and reiterating why amicus briefs should be allowed. “The important civil rights precedents discussed by amici curiae hold that the Sixth Amendment protects us all from convictions tainted by racial, ideological, religious, ethnic, or other irrational prejudice,” states the brief. “As distinguished criminal defense organizations, amici offer to assist the court by presenting the cases most pertinent to the fair treatment of unpopular defendants.” The amicus briefs were filed by the National Lawyers Guild, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Federal Public Defenders and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.... “Everyone plays to win, I guess,” Federal Assistant Public Defender Richard Klugh, who likely will be arguing the case before the 11th Circuit, said in an interview. “But to not allow anyone except the Cuban defendants to argue is not right. These are respected American legal organizations and they should be allowed to participate in the process.” Markus angrily called the prosecutors “crybabies.” “Only insecure bullies cry and complain like this,” he said. “I’m really surprised that the [U.S. attorney’s office] would take this position.” ... The brief by Assistant U.S.Attorney Caroline Heck Miller calls the amici “surrogates for appellants.” The purpose of such a move, she suggests, would be to allow the defense to circumvent page limitations in their own briefs. Klugh angrily denies the allegation. He and other defense lawyers argue that they see no reason why the court shouldn’t allow the two amicus briefs. All parties should be allowed to express their views in the case, Klugh said. “I have never seen the government argue this before,” Klugh said. “I can see if there were 10 briefs filed, but there were just two, from respected legal organizations.” ... Richard B. Rosenthal, a Miami appellate lawyer, said the South Florida legal community was flabbergasted by the government’s move. “We were all surprised,” he said. “Those briefs are routinely allowed and the government’s decision to challenge the amicus brief smacks either of desperation or of sheer pettiness.” ...

New poll

In the spirit of the funniest Justice article (see post below), I've started a poll for funniest Southern District of Florida Judge (scroll down a bit; it's on the right of the page). I've only included a few of the judges... If you think one should be added (or taken off), please post your thoughts in the comment section. Have fun.

Abramoff to plead? (and cooperate?)

That's the word on the street. Judge Paul Huck gave Abramoff (and his lawyer, Neal Sonnett) until Tuesday to decide whether it's going to be a plea or a trial. I bet lots of Congressmen are hoping he goes to trial...