Liberty City 7 update

Judge Lenard has ordered an anonymous jury in the next Liberty City 7 trial. (via Miami Herald). Very bad news for the defense.

Here's the intro to the article:

A federal judge on Friday aired concerns about the possibility of jury tampering in the upcoming retrial of an alleged homegrown terrorism group and ordered that Miami-Dade jurors be selected anonymously for the high-profile proceeding.U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cited numerous reasons for her order -- including a jury list handed by one defense lawyer to his client's mother so she could pray for an acquittal during first trial deliberations last week. Lenard noted that it was a ''pristine list'' with all 12 of the jurors' names and ''X'' marks next to six of them.''At this point, it's unclear to the court what that list was about,'' she said.Her order -- an edict normally seen in organized crime or major drug cases -- means that potentially hundreds of Miami-Dade voters who receive jury summonses for the retrial in January will be referred to by number, not by name. The judge also ordered the U.S. Marshals to provide criminal background checks on all prospective jurors for both sides.***''I do find there is strong reason to believe the jury needs protection,'' Lenard said. ``Here we have defendants accused of being members of a terrorist cell.''

On the other hand, Judge Lenard ordered the government to keep Lyglenson Lemorin here in the United States because he may be needed for the next trial. (via Sun-Sentinel). From the article:

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cautioned the government against moving ahead "with lightning speed so that he would not be available to testify.""I don't know if it's on a fast track or not on a fast track," Lenard said. "I have to protect the rights of these defendants and I intend to do so."

So, do we start calling the case the Liberty City 6 now?

Jailhouse snitch?

Apparently someone at the federal jail claims that a defendant in the Joe Cool case confessed. Smells fishy to me. Here and here are the articles.

Holiday cards

The Wall Street Journal Blog likes Stearns Weaver's holiday card....

The following text accompanies this picture:

Past contributions by our firm have enabled the Daily Bread Food Bank to deliver over 1.3 million meals to those in need in our community.
This year, we decided to contribute a truck to help make the deliveries a little easier.
When you see this truck in our community, you may notice that our name is not on it. That is because the gift of this truck is made in your honor. It would not have been possible without you.

Where in the world is Lyglenson Lemorin?

Check out this AP story, by Curt Anderson, about the one defendant who was acquitted in the Liberty City 7 case. Even when you win, you lose....

A U.S. jury did not think Lyglenson Lemorin was involved in a terrorism conspiracy to topple Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices, but he did not walk out of court a free man.
Instead, federal agents took the legal U.S. resident to Georgia, where he remained Wednesday facing possible deportation to his native Haiti, his attorneys said. And Lemorin could be forced to return to court early next year in Miami to testify in the retrial of his co-defendants in the so-called "Liberty City Seven" case.
Lemorin's treatment has led people involved in the case to question the government's motives, especially if he is charged with largely identical terrorism-related offenses in deportation proceedings.

We also haven't had a Go Dore Go segment in a while, but the article quotes blog favorite Dore Louis:

His lawyers didn't know where he was until Monday, and Lemorin told them he feared he would be taken to the U.S. terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A Miami lawyer who represents a co-defendant in the Jose Padilla terrorism case said Lemorin was afraid for good reason.
"This is a category of individuals who are subjected to different rules," said attorney Marshall Dore Louis, who is not involved in the Liberty City Seven case. "I think anybody who is in that system should be terrified about what the government is going to do."

Anonymous Blog dies

Thank goodness it's not Rumpole.

Still, it's sad that StuckonthePalmetto is dead. It was one of the best blogs in South Florida. Here's the Herald report on what happened...

DBR covers Federal Bar Luncheon

John Pacenti's Justice Watch column today details Chief Judge's Moreno's take on the two big sentencing decisions from last week that he spoke about at the federal bar lunch:

Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno doesn’t expect a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions reinforcing the sentencing discretion of federal judges to create much of a ripple. “There will be a little bit of change,” he told the Federal Bar Association last week. The affable judge kept lawyers in stitches as he addressed the association for the first time as chief judge.
***
Moreno told the association that most sentences will fall within the guidelines but he expects the number of sentencing appeals to drop. In an interview afterward, the judge said the guidelines play an important role. “It eliminates disparities between different judges,” he said. “I like the guidelines because that’s what they are — guidelines — they are not mandatory sentences.” But he also welcomes the latest decisions guaranteeing more discretion to district judges. “We know the case and the individual,” he said. “It gives the opportunity for the exception if someone is young or if something is unusual. Sometimes people do fall outside the standards.”

Rick Diaz nominated for lawyer of the year

The Wall Street Journal blog has posted its nominations for lawyer of the year. Sure, there's Alberto Gonzalez, Clarence Thomas, David Boies, Jon Keker, and Billy Martin. But you can also vote for our very own Rick Diaz! Check it out.

Defenders go to Liberia

Curt Anderson has this interesting story about the difficulties in investigating the Chuckie Taylor case -- the witnesses are scattered throughout Africa. Such problems raise the question about whether this sort of offense ought to be prosecuted in the United States. Here's the lead:

Witnesses are difficult or impossible to find, some moving to remote African villages accessible only by muddy roads rarely patrolled by police. Many who survived Liberia's bloody civil war and may have seen acts of torture are reluctant to talk to anyone about what happened, let alone a defense lawyer for the notorious son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
Then there are the language and cultural barriers. These and other problems have forced a delay until spring in the trial in Miami federal court of Taylor's son Charles McArthur Emmanuel or Chuckie Taylor, the first person to be prosecuted under a law making it a crime for a U.S. citizen to commit torture or war crimes overseas.