Election Day

It's that time of year again.

Many federal judges aren't conducting trials today so that jurors can vote.

I always ask the question about judicial elections vs. appointments. Who has the better system? In the judicial races today, what do you know about the candidates? What does the general public know? Are we making an informed decision?

You all know my view -- the federal appointment system, which has its own flaws, is the better way to select judges.

Thoughts?

Federal Bar Luncheon

Celeste Higgins, the new pres of the local Federal Bar Association, asked me to let you all know that Beth Wilkinson is the first luncheon speaker on Wednesday November 12. Here's the info:

Beth Wilkinson is former General Counsel of Fannie Mae. Prior to thatposition, she was partner and co-chair of the White Collar practice groupat Latham and Watkins and prosecutor in the Timothy McVeigh and TerryNichols Oklahoma City bombing trials. She was a special AUSA in Miami in 1990-1991 who worked with the prosecution of Noriega. She will, no doubt,give us a behind the scenes perspective on the current financial crisis andthe other major legal events she has seen and participated in since leavingthe Southern District of Florida. Furthermore, her unique perspective as aprosecutor, defense attorney and general counsel provides a greatopportunity to hear what she thinks the biggest issues will be for attorneys and judges as the financial crisis unfolds and a new administration takes over on January 20, 2009.The luncheon will be held at the Bankers' Club located at One BiscayneTower on Wednesday, November 12th promptly at 12 noon. Reservations can bemade by calling Lourdes Fernandez, Law Clerk to Judge Dube at (305)523-5771. The cost is $35 per person.

Conviction in suitcase-gate

After extremely lengthy deliberations, the jury convicted Franklin Duran today. Congratulations to Tom Mulvihill. Here's the intro to Curt Anderson's AP article:

A federal jury convicted a wealthy Venezuelan Monday of acting as an illegal foreign agent who came to the U.S. to cover up a Latin American political scandal involving a cash-stuffed suitcase smuggled into Argentina.Jurors deliberated seven days -- at one point indicating they were hopelessly deadlocked -- before finding Franklin Duran, 41, guilty of foreign agent and conspiracy charges. He faces up to 15 years in prison.Duran, dressed in a dark suit, stared straight ahead and showed no emotion when the verdict was announced. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard set sentencing for Jan. 12.Prosecutors said during the eight-week trial that Duran and other South American men came to Miami on orders of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to ensure the silence of a man who carried a suitcase filled with $800,000 into Argentina in 2007. The U.S. said the money was a secret political donation to the campaign of Argentina's president.
Duran attorney Ed Shohat contended his client was entrapped by the FBI and came to Miami only to help a friend and protect business interests. Shohat vowed Monday to appeal, calling the trial ``a political circus'' orchestrated by the U.S. to embarrass Chavez and his allies.``Franklin Duran is a pawn of the U.S. government,'' Shohat said. ``We're going to continue this fight.''Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Mulvihill rejected that description of the case, which has been the subject of relentless media coverage across Latin America.``This was not a political trial. We don't engage in those,'' Mulvihill said.

Swarms of lawyers...

... at a polling place near you. (Via Sun-Sentinel)

I just like the picture.

Attorneys Brian Seymour, left, and Gerald Richman outside the old Palm Beach County courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. Seymour will represent the Republican party on election day and Richman will represent the Democrats. (Sun Sentinel/Scott Fisher / October 28, 2008)

Breaking

Chuckie Taylor convicted on all counts.

Update -- Here's the CNN article.

Another hung jury?

This time it might be the suitcase trial.

We've had an awful lot lately, no?

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.