Guest Blogging At David's Place.

Hi folks, SFL here.

David was kind enough to lend me the keys to his soapbox for a few days because, as you may have heard, he's busy doing IMPORTANT LEGAL STUFF.

In fact, here's a taste of what the big man has been up to this week:

The guiding principle of the medical profession is often stated as "First, do no harm."

But according to federal prosecutor Sean Cronin, Dr. Ali Shaygan operated by a different four-word motto, "Mo' money. Mo' money," with deadly consequences.

Making his opening statement Wednesday to a Miami federal jury, Cronin called Shaygan a drug dealer who sold prescriptions for dangerous narcotics to boost his income.

One of Shaygan's patients, James "Brendan" Downey of West Palm Beach, died in June 2007 after overdosing on methadone prescribed by Shaygan, Cronin said.

Shaygan's attorney, David O. Markus, countered that the 37-year-old physician prescribed appropriate doses of medications to patients who claimed to be suffering from pain and other ailments.

"He had a legitimate medical reason for doing what he did," Markus said. "Because a patient passes away doesn't make the doctor a criminal."

Shaygan, who lives in Miami Beach, is charged with 141 counts of unlawful prescribing and causing Downey's death. If convicted, he faces more than 20 years behind bars.

Geez, all I do is move around money.

Good luck David!

In other SD FL news, all you machers can see if you made the list. No, not the Madoff investment list, but the list of 19,000 offshore UBS bank accounts of American investors who may have been trying to avoid US taxes:

The largest bank in Switzerland, UBS, agreed Wednesday to reveal the names of wealthy Americans whom the authorities suspect of using offshore accounts to evade taxes.

The change in policy is the result of UBS' admitted role in conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. As part of the agreement, the bank will pay $780 million in damages, and also close all offshore accounts of its American clients.

You can see the filing that was submitted to Judge Cohn here.

Ok ok I know it's not Shakespeare, and I'll see if I can punch it up a bit, but I did promise myself -- out of my deep respect for David -- not to "work blue."

Boy, now I know how Bob Saget feels.

Have a good day everybody!

Exhaustion

Trial the last two days from 8:30 am to 6:30pm. I'm tired...

Updates you probably know already:

Openings in the Liberty City 6 today.

Closings in the Joe Cool case and the jury is out.

Good news -- South Florida Lawyer has agreed to guest blog. THANK YOU!

Looking for part-time blogger!

I am trial, probably for the next 4-5 weeks. (Details here). Anyone interesting in helping out while I'm busy?

''He said if I blamed it on him, he was going to turn it around on me."

That was Guillermo Zarabozo, the Joe Cool defendant, testifying on Friday. Here's a snippet of the Herald article:

''I told them what he told me to say,'' Zarabozo testified at the murder retrial in federal court in Miami. ``It was the biggest mistake of my life. I lied. That's why I'm here.''
Zarabozo, testifying after the government rested its case, admitted that he and Archer lied that Cuban ''pirates'' had hijacked the boat on their chartered one-way trip to Bimini and then killed the crew. Zarabozo is charged with 16 counts of conspiracy, hijacking, kidnapping, murder, robbery and use of a firearm in commission of those crimes.
Archer, 36, pleaded guilty before the first federal trial in September and was sentenced to life in prison -- Zarabozo's fate if he is convicted of any of the offenses.
Prosecutors will return on Tuesday to cross examine Zarabozo. It is expected to be an intense confrontation. They have argued that Zarabozo has been lying about his role in the murders.
But rather than try to prove conclusively that Zarabozo fatally shot the crew, prosecutors have unveiled newly discovered evidence showing that he and Archer plotted for months to hijack the chartered vessel to Cuba. The evidence supports the conspiracy charge and refutes Zarabozo's claim that he thought the boat was a charter to Bimini.

Breaking -- Judge Cooke dismisses case against Ben Kuehne's co-defendant for Speedy Trial violation

In a 13-page Order, Judge Cooke has dismissed the case against Gloria Florez Velez, the lead defendant in the Ben Kuehne case for a violation of her speedy trial rights. Henry Bell represents Ms. Velez. More to follow...

To Tase or not to Tase

That's the video from Buckley v. Rackard, 292 Fed. Appx. 791 (11th Cir. Sept. 9, 2008). The ACLU is asking for the Supreme Court to take cert. Here is their press release.

Racial issues come up during jury selection in Liberty City trial

The defense is arguing that the prosecutors are striking all the African-American jurors. The prosecution is arguing that the defense is striking all the Hispanic males. Both sides are giving race-neutral reasons for their strikes. Judge Lenard has halted jury selection and has asked for briefs by Tuesday.

Written Testimony

For those that are interested, here is my written testimony to the Sentencing Commission.