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.