Chuckie Taylor case to jury

Here's the AP account of closing arguments:

''The defendant acted with specific intent to cause severe pain and suffering,'' [Karen] Rochlin told the jury.
Emmanuel's attorney said some of the victims who testified were opponents of the ex-president's government who might have been motivated by a political vendetta. Others, he suggested, would say anything to escape Liberia.
''They all have a strong motive to get out of West Africa, to better the lives of their families and themselves,'' public defender Miguel Caridad said. ``My client has not been proven guilty of anything.''

Ted Stevens trial

Okay, so this isn't a SDFLA trial, but I have to come to my old boss' (not Stevens, but his lawyer) defense. The cold may have gotten to Rumpole's head on this one as he says that Brendan Sullivan, one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the nation who heads Williams & Connolly, gave a "histrionic closing argument." (Rumple does not point to any part of the closing argument to support that position.)

Sullivan is unbelievable: smart, creative, and cunning. (And Rumpole, I'm sure the bill was more than a million bucks.) The jury was out quite a while and had a tough time convicting. From the newspaper reports, this looked like an impossible case...

In other news, one reader reports that a juror in our District yelled at a criminal defense lawyer yesterday to stop shaking the podium because it was aggravating her. Not a good sign...

Anything else going on? Talk to me people.

Trials

Two trials look like they will be coming to a close this week -- the suitcase full of cash trial in front of Judge Lenard is already to the jury and the Chuckie Taylor case will go to the jury this week. Any predictions?

Sorry for the slow blogging? Anything going on that you would like to discuss?

How about this: Who will are next district judges be -- in an Obama presidency? A McCain presidency?

Is the Dyer building for sale?

Perhaps, according to Julie Kay.

You gotta love Judge Pete Palermo:

But Miami Magistrate Judge Peter Palermo — who worked in the Dyer Building for 37 years before moving to the King building this month — said he would "raise hell" over any proposal to sell the Dyer Building. "It's historical," he said, calling the grand ceremonial courtroom "one of the most beautiful courtrooms in the country. When lawyers come to town they all want to tour it. I would fight like hell."

You can't handle the truth

SDFLA readers will be happy to know that there was a "you can't handle the truth" moment in federal court today. From the Miami Herald:

But on cross-examination, Durán's attorney, Ed Shohat, tried to trip up Kauffmann by suggesting that he and his partner didn't actually buy the Citibank property -- that a close friend of Kauffmann's purchased it.
Kauffmann, who already pleaded guilty in the case, accused the defense lawyer of trying to confuse the facts, bursting out at one point: ``Handle the truth. Handle the truth.''
Shohat shot back: ''Are you Jack Nicholson?'' The reference was to the actor's role on the witness stand in the movie, A Few Good Men, in which he shouts: ``You can't handle the truth.''
U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard temporarily shut down the testimony, removed the 12-member jury and lectured both Kauffmann and Shohat.

I thank all involved as it allowed me to post one of the greatest courtroom moments in movie history. I could watch that again and again.

Rumpole gets all the good stories

You have got to be kidding me:

Miami-Dade judge: I was battered by a colleague

You know what struck me about this story -- state court judges have to share fax machines!

Come together

They used to fight over gun cases and minor role. Now, former AUSA Seth Miles and former AFPD Orlando do Campo (along with his partner John Thornton) teamed up to win $80 million in damages from Curacao in a damages trial before Judge King. Here are some of the details from the Herald article:

Three Cuban men forced to work 16-hour shifts at 3 ½ cents an hour repairing ships for a Cuban joint venture in Curacao won an $80 million judgment Monday in U.S. federal court in Miami.
Alberto Justo Rodríguez, Fernando Alonso Hernández and Luis Alberto Casanova Toledo -- Cuban nationals who now live in Tampa -- sued the Curacao Drydock Co., alleging the company conspired with the Cuban government to force them into virtual slave labor.
Lawyers called the deal a ''Faustian bargain'' hatched so the Cuban government could pay off its debt with Curacao Drydock by providing free labor, and at the same time skirt the U.S. embargo by working on American ships in a third country.
''These arrangements have been the lifeblood of the regime for 15 years,'' attorney John Andres Thornton said. ``And those days are over.''
The plaintiffs tearfully testified about their 3 p.m. to 7 a.m. shifts -- sometimes 45 days straight -- in harsh and dangerous work conditions. They slept in 20-foot cubicles they shared with 20 other men and often did not sleep: They needed to stay up for their turn at the shower.
On their time off, they were forced to watch hourslong videotaped speeches of then-President Fidel Castro. They were paid the average Cuban salary of $16 a month.
Alonso, who has a shrunken frame and weathered face that belie his 43 years, was awarded $30 million for the 10 years he spent at the Curacao docks. His right hand is missing the index finger and the tip of the middle finger; his left is blackened by an untreated on-the-job explosion.
''I have never even seen $1,000 together,'' Alonso said after the judgment. ``I feel complete. We are in the best country in the world for justice.''

I just want to know who used the word Faustian.

Headline fraud

The Herald has this headline today:

Miami doctor, nurse guilty of Medicare fraud


and this tag line under it:

The brothers who owned the clinic involved in an $11 million Medicare scam fled to Cuba. A doctor and nurse who worked in the clinic were convicted of fraud.

Yes, that's all true, but two of the four defendants at trial were acquitted. Shouldn't the headline be a bit more even-handed? Here's Frank Quintero, the defense lawyer for one of the acquitted defendants:

But while the physician and nurse were found guilty by the federal jury, Beatriz Delgado, a receptionist, and Angel Rodriguez, a medical assistant, were acquitted.
''There's no question that Medicare fraud is a huge problem in South Florida, but you cannot claim that everybody who is working in a clinic is part of that fraud,'' said attorney Frank Quintero, who represented Angel Rodriguez. ``We had a very smart jury in this trial and they saw through the lack of evidence as far as my client is concerned.''

Here's the rest of the article.