"My innocent client is being dragged along for the ride."

That's Joel Hirschhorn on the Mutual Benefits case after two judges have recused and the U.S. Attorney and his chief have recused from the case. What is going on?

Here's Vanessa Blum's article, which is extremely interesting. The case is now assigned to Judge Jordan and Eric Bustillo is the AUSA who signed off on the indictment. From the intro:

The biggest financial fraud case in Broward County history is proving too hot to handle for several senior federal law enforcement officials and judges, who have removed themselves from having anything to do with it.Federal prosecutors announced new charges this month in the long-running investigation of Mutual Benefits Corp.--a defunct Fort Lauderdale investment firm whose managers are accused of operating a $1-billion Ponzi scheme.This week, two federal judges assigned to hear the case stepped aside in quick succession with no explanation, according to public court records.The back-to-back judicial recusals, unparalleled in recent memory, followed an unusual decision by the two highest-ranking lawyers in the local U.S. Attorney's Office to have no further involvement in matters related to Mutual Benefits.
Judges and prosecutors generally recuse themselves when they have conflicts of interest, for instance a personal relationship with someone involved or a financial stake in the litigation.Because of secrecy surrounding the recusals, it is not clear whether the Justice Department officials and federal judges have the same conflict.

Quick question -- should judges and prosecutors have to disclose why they recuse from a case?

First federal not guilty of the year?

Bill Matthewman got one yesterday before Judge Marra in a felon in possession case. First not guilty of the year in the District?

UPDATED -- Nope, Matthewman doesn't get the honors. The first NG of the year goes to Tim Day from the Federal Defender's Office before Judge Cohn.

"Nice off the bench"

Brian Tannebaum has been doing a bunch of provocative blogging over at his site. I enjoyed reading this post about Judges being "nice off the bench." Here's a snippet:

A standard description of judges is that he or she is "nice off the bench."When you say a judge is "nice off the bench," it naturally means they are not nice on the bench.Anyone in trial practice has seen this in action. See judge on bench, see judge lambaste lawyer. See judge at social event, see judge as a happy friendly person.

C'est la vie

It doesn't look like it was a good day for Gen. Manuel Noriega.

Here's the AP Report:

A skeptical panel of federal appeals judges questioned Wednesday whether former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega has any legal right to challenge his proposed extradition to France to face money laundering charges.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges cast doubt at a hearing on claims by Noriega's lawyers that the Geneva Conventions treaties regarding prisoners of war require Noriega be returned to Panama because his sentence for drug racketeering ended in September 2007.
U.S. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes repeatedly asked Noriega attorney Jonathan May whether Congress eliminated the legal underpinnings of Noriega's argument when it passed the 2006 Military Commissions Act. The law created judicial procedures for enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but also could be applied to POWs and anyone else, the judges said.
"Do you disagree with the plain meaning of that language, or what?" Carnes said. "You're using the Geneva Conventions as a source of your client's right ... (the law) says you can't."
May said that was an incorrect interpretation of what Congress sought to do. He insisted the law was meant to apply solely to court proceedings, not an executive branch matter such as extradition.

The Herald article is here.

11th Circuit to hear General Noriega's case

Curt Anderson has this interesting piece about the oral argument before the 11th Circuit regarding whether Gen. Manuel Noriega should be extradited to France or whether he goes back to Panama:

As the only prisoner of war held on U.S. soil, inmate No. 38699-079 gets annual visits from the Red Cross and can wear his military uniform and insignia when he goes to court.
Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega frequently sees his wife and children, who make the trip to his private bungalow at a federal prison near Miami from their home in Panama. The one-time CIA operative is a dedicated news junkie, reads voraciously about history and politics and is working on a memoir.
Whether the vanquished dictator's story ends in prison or freedom, at home or abroad, depends on how courts in three countries on two continents decide to punish him for his drug-running past.
More than a year ago, Noriega completed his sentence for drug racketeering and money laundering and thought he was headed home. Instead, U.S. officials dropped a legal bomb: Noriega would be extradited to France to stand trial on more money laundering charges.
On Jan. 14, a federal appeals court will hear arguments on Noriega's claim that as a POW he should immediately be repatriated, 19 years after the U.S. invaded Panama to remove him from power.
"Gen. Noriega is not a complainer," said Frank Rubino, one of Noriega's attorneys. "As a soldier, he's been schooled in such a way that he was dealt this hand, and he will play this hand."

***

I've gotten a bunch of emails about the post below on Chris Hansen speaking at the federal bar luncheon. This one is my favorite:

The feds want to hear from an entrapment expert... Perhaps to pick up some tips? What's next -- William Shatner on trial advocacy? Jack Bauer on interrogation techniques? Judge Judy? Stay tuned...

Chris Hansen to speak at Federal Bar Luncheon

This month's guest speaker for the Federal Bar Association's luncheon series is Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen on January 21st at the Banker's Club. Mr. Hansen is a 7- time Emmy winner and renowned correspondent with Dateline NBC. He is perhaps best known for the "To Catch a Predator" series but his investigative reporting includes efforts to expose international identity thieves, child sex rings in Cambodia, counterfeit prescription operations out of China, and international child labor violations. He has also received numerous reporting awards for his coverage of the federal building bombing at Oklahoma City and the mass murders at Columbine, Colorado. Attendance is expected to be high so please RSVP to Celeste Higgins at (305) 530-7000, ext. 109.

"How a mother of two ended up in a plot to smuggle high-tech gear to the enemy."

The Miami New Times covers Shahrzad Mir Gholikhan here. You remember Ms. Gholikhan -- she's the woman who hung a jury before Judge Cohn and then represented herself at the second trial. The New Times has a cover story on her. It's a great read.

That's her in the picture above.

I'll never understand...

...why people don't move their stalled cars out of the center lane of rush hour traffic on US1. ARRRRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!$^!%$(&!%(!*&^%($

Anyway, some interesting stories this morning:

1. Jay Weaver covers the sentencing before Judge Lenard on the Frank Duran Venezuelan suitcase trial. Here's the intro:

A rich businessman convicted of working as an illegal Venezuelan agent in the United States says he should be sent to prison for no more than three years, asserting that the judge in the case said he and his co-defendants had done no harm to this country.
Franklin Duran, who will be sentenced Monday, was the only defendant among five Latin American men indicted in 2007 to fight charges at trial that they had come to South Florida to cover up a hemispheric political scandal.
The men were charged with working on behalf of Venezuela's spy agency to silence a colleague who had been caught with a suitcase stuffed with $800,000. Prosecutors say the money was a gift from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavéz to Argentina's new president.
In November, a federal jury found Duran, 41, guilty of conspiring and operating as an illegal foreign agent who failed to register with the U.S. government -- a pair of offenses that carry up to 15 years in prison.

2. Vanessa Blum discusses the "honest services" statute here in connection with the Palm Beach Commissioner Mary McCarty. Milton Hirsch has this funny quote:

But some defense lawyers complain the law is too vague and public officials have no warning what conduct might land them behind bars."When someone is accused of stealing a box of apples, we know what that is," said Milton Hirsch, a Miami defense attorney. "When someone is accused of stealing the public's right to honest services, what does that even mean?"

3. Speaking of Milton Hirsch, he is running for Circuit Court judge in state court. First fundraiser is February 3 at my office. Email me off-line if you are interested in helping Milt out.

4. And for our out-of-district news, check out this very disturbing NY Times article about a sheriff in Alabama who kept inmates in jail starving so he could make a few extra bucks. And the law may have allowed for it!! Here's the intro:

The prisoners in the Morgan County jail here were always hungry. The sheriff, meanwhile, was getting a little richer. Alabama law allowed it: the chief lawman could go light on prisoners’ meals and pocket the leftover change.
And that is just what the sheriff, Greg Bartlett, did, to the tune of $212,000 over the last three years, despite a state food allowance of only $1.75 per prisoner per day.
In the view of a federal judge, who heard testimony from the hungry inmates, the sheriff was in “blatant” violation of past agreements that his prisoners be properly cared for.
“There was undisputed evidence that most of the inmates had lost significant weight,” the judge, U. W. Clemon of Federal District Court in Birmingham, said Thursday in an interview. “I could not ignore them.”
So this week, Judge Clemon ordered Sheriff Bartlett himself jailed until he came up with a plan to adequately feed prisoners more, anyway, than a few spoonfuls of grits, part of an egg and a piece of toast at breakfast, and bits of undercooked, bloody chicken at supper.

You gotta read the whole article. Crazy.