HOORAY!

You know who here, still...oh hail let's get right to John Pacenti's delicious write-up of the big man's big win:

“This verdict restored my faith in our justice system,” said David O. Markus, one of Shaygan’s attorneys. “It shows win-at-all costs takes a back seat to justice.”

Marc Seitles and Robin Kaplan also represented the doctor.

Seitles was hollering “not guilty” outside the courtroom after the verdict was read in front of U.S. District Court Judge Alan S. Gold.

U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta has said the secret taping of Markus and a defense investigator was wrong, and Cronin and Hoffman violated office policy. The matter has been referred to Justice Department’s Office of Professional Regulation for review.

...

Markus, [Robin Kaplan,] and Seitles said in court documents that Cronin threatened the case would take “a seismic shift” if Shaygan challenged a claim by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent that the doctor failed to invoke his right to counsel when questioned.

Prosecutors promptly filed 100 more counts after Shaygan filed the motion to suppress, which eventually was won by the defense.

Nice quote, David! I also like this exchange from the Sun-Sentinel:

Several jurors lingered outside the courtroom to congratulate Shaygan and his defense team.

"The jury did the right thing," said David O. Markus, Shaygan's lead attorney. "This sends a message that justice prevails."

But Shaygan said he is unsure he will return to practicing medicine.

"I know 100 percent that I want to continue helping people," he said. "That's the most important thing."

Helping people.....has a nice ring to it.

Waiting For the Man.

SFL here, waiting like everyone else for the jury to come back in the big man's trial:

"Addicts sometimes lie to get their drugs and doctors are going to get fooled," defense attorney David Markus said. "But that doesn't make them drug dealers."

Shaygan is charged with 141 counts of unlawful prescribing. He is accused of causing the 2007 overdose death of a West Palm Beach man.

The jury begins deliberations today. If convicted, Shaygan, who lives in Miami Beach, could face more than 20 years in prison.

During the three-week trial, jurors heard from former patients, medical experts and undercover police who went to Shaygan's office posing as pain patients.

Shaygan also took the stand, insisting he did his best to care for his patients. To convict, prosecutors must show Shaygan prescribed medication without "legitimate medical purpose."

In his closing argument, Cronin called Shaygan's medical practice a "charade" and his medical degree "a license to deal drugs."

But Markus said Shaygan gave patients random urine tests to screen for illicit drugs and dismissed several he suspected of abusing narcotics, proving he was no pill pusher.

I'll let you all know as soon as I hear anything.

UPDATE: Rump calls it for the big man!!!

Closing Arguments in the Shaygan Trial

Hi kids, SFL still in da' house (to paraphrase rap artist/Congresswoman Bachmann), while the big man does that thing trial lawyers do, what is it again, oh yeah:

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will make closing arguments today in the trial of a South Florida physician accused of acting as a drug dealer.

Dr. Ali Shaygan, 36, faces 141 counts of improper prescribing and is charged with causing the 2007 overdose death of a West Palm Beach man.

If convicted, he faces at least 20 years in prison.

I see David put his client on the stand:

"Have you ever just sold [prescriptions] for cash?" his attorney asked.

"No, never," Shaygan answered.

The trial, which has lasted almost four weeks, has been contentious, with aggressive lawyering on both sides.

Last week, Shaygan's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Alan Gold to throw out the case because government agents secretly taped phone calls between the defense team and trial witnesses.

Prosecutors have said the taping "was not handled as well as it should have been," but that the charges should stand.

GOOD LUCK DAVID!!

Shaygan Trial Cross-Examination

SFL here, because David is there:

'These people there said, `Tape-record the defense,' '' defense attorney David O. Markus declared, pointing to prosecutors Sean Cronin and Andrea Hoffman. ``When I called you, you tape-recorded me.''

The government witness, Trinity Clendening, agreed, admitting he recorded Markus on his home phone two times in December.

The strained exchange marked the second time that the defense lawyer got an opportunity to cross-examine Clendening, a Drug Enforcement Administration informant who inadvertently revealed on the witness stand last month that he had taped their conversations before the trial.

Markus said those recordings, along with a second government witness' taping of his private investigator, may have improperly given prosecutors a window into the defense strategy.

Markus attacked Clendening during the cross-examination for asking for money on the phone, suggesting the solicitation was meant to set him up as a lawyer who would pay for information. Markus is seeking to have his client's indictment thrown out.

U.S. District Alan Gold has the authority to dismiss the indictment, declare a mistrial or allow the trial to be completed. He also could instruct the jury on how to weigh the two government witnesses' testimony.

The U.S. attorney's office, though admitting it made a ''mistake'' by failing to follow policy, opposed a dismissal or mistrial. Last week. U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said the case supervisor, Karen Gilbert, should have sought approval from him and two other senior officials before having the two government witnesses place recording devices on their phones.

Ok, that speaks to (but doesn't answer, in my mind) the authority to record question. What about the disclosure issue?

Oh hail, I'm going back to civil litigation.

Helio Trial Resumes Today.

Hi folks, blah blah blah.

I see the Helio trial resumes today:

Experts say jurors will have to decide if the Castroneves deal was real or contrived to make it appear he didn't have control of his Penske money.

"What the government is saying is, if you are entitled to some cash, and you leave it in your mother's bank account, it's still your cash," said Chas Roy-Chowdrey, a tax expert with the global industry group Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Castroneves is a top Indy Racing League driver, winning the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 and finishing second in 2003. In 2007, he gained even greater fame by winning TV's "Dancing With The Stars" competition.

Issues at trial have their origins in the final event of1999 of the Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART — at the time a rival of the Indy Racing League. On Oct. 31 of that year in Fontana, Calif., Castroneves was driving in the final race for his soon-to-be-disbanded Hogan team and Greg Moore was about to sign a lucrative new contract with Penske Racing.

Moore crashed and was killed. In less than a week, Penske signed Castroneves, using Moore's contract by simply crossing out the old names and amounts and replacing them in handwritten notations. Miller negotiated that deal for $6 million — $1 million paid directly to Castroneves and $5 million to license Castroneves' name and image.

At first, the $5 million was supposed to flow to a Panamanian corporation called Seven Promotions.

In mid-December 1999, Miller sent a letter to Penske asking that the transaction be halted, according to trial testimony. Penske's general counsel, Lawrence Bluth, said the company held onto the Castroneves cash until January 2003, when it was invested with Netherlands firm Fintage Licensing B.V., where it remains today.

"We were ready to make payments to Seven Promotions. We were told not to," Bluth testified.

The IRS and federal prosecutors charge that arrangement was a tax dodge.

They contend Castroneves secretly controlled Seven Promotions — disputed vigorously by the defense — and should have paid U.S. taxes under the "constructive receipt" doctrine as soon as Penske was ready to start cutting checks.

"The individual's wishes do not control," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Axelrod. "A taxpayer may not deliberately turn his back upon income and thereby select the year for which he will report it."

Hmm, that's it?

I didn't do too well with trusts and such when I had Professor Gaubatz (RIP), but this strikes me as a tough case for the prosecution.

UPDATE: Pete Yanowitch testifies --

Attorney Peter Yanowitch testified Tuesday that he was involved in contract talks between Castroneves and the Hogan racing team in 1999. Yanowitch says Castroneves wanted his money to go to a Panamanian entity that he owned.

"Much of Brickell Avenue Was Built With Drug Money."

Welcome to Monday, folks -- SFL here, still subbing for the big man.

Remember, no throwing erasures in the classroom!

That great quote above is from Joe DeMaria, weighing in on the black market peso exchange and the government's case against Ben Kuehne:

Kuehne is represented by Miami attorney Jane Moscowitz of Moscowitz & Moscowitz and John Nields of Howrey in Washington. Kuehne has become a cause celebre among peers who see his prosecution as an attempt to chill legal representation for drug traffickers and other high-profile defendants. Kuehne’s clients included Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential recount litigation.

Now his own attorneys are challenging the use of a key government expert, retired DEA agent Donald Semesky, who they say will testify that most of the dollars that Colombians get from the exchange are from narcotics trafficking. “Agent Semesky’s proffered testimony is woefully insufficient” and is intended to fill a gap in evidence, the Feb. 6 defense motion states.

Kuehne argues a federal bankruptcy court in New York recently rejected the government’s characterization of the exchange as utterly corrupt.

DeMaria said it’s disingenuous for prosecutors to denigrate the parallel money market.

“Much of Brickell Avenue was built with drug money. Does that mean you take down all those financial institutions?” he asked. “Sometimes the government has gone too far with the black market peso exchange.”

Take 'em down?

We're probably bailing them out.

Goggles case finally over

Vanessa Blum has the scoop:

A federal judge sentenced an Iranian woman today to five years and three months in prison for trying to illegally export U.S.-made night-vision goggles to Iran.Sharhazad Mir Gholikhan, 31, was found guilty of violating trade laws in December after she represented herself at trial.U.S. District Judge James Cohn said Gholikhan's crimes compromised the safety of U.S. military personnel and the country. However, Cohn gave Gholikhan credit for voluntarily surrendering to face the charges against her."Without that, I think we can all agree she would not be before the court," Cohn said.

Does the JNC Lack Diversity?

Hi folks, SFL here.

It's Friday, so let's talk about women.

Come on now, this is David's blog -- I mean the lack of same on the new JNC Panel:

The 56-member list produced by Nelson and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez includes 11 women. Three of 20 from South Florida are women.

“I was appalled,” said Lehner, director of the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. “It’s mind-boggling. It’s a total and complete mystery how anyone can constitute a commission, which is supposed to be selecting candidates for federal office, with such a gross disparity and inequality toward women.”

Lehner said she has written a letter of complaint to Nelson’s office and has heard from a number of women lawyers who are concerned about the commission’s gender bias.

“Myself and other women are disappointed in the under-representation,” said Jennifer Coberly, a former member of The Florida Bar board of governors and the general counsel for Point Blank Solutions in Pompano Beach. “It’s important to not just the legal profession but to the community.”

John teased out some great quotes for this story. How about this one:

“Somehow, if there is no contribution, then you don’t rise to the attention of the decision makers,” said Marva Wiley, a Miami attorney and president of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association and the Haitian Lawyers Association.

I also like how all those contacted by Pacenti for this story all declined comment:

Zack, like other JNC members contacted, said he had no comment on the number of women on the commission.

That's the smart play of course, but here's what I would have said:

"If the Senators in their judgment determine that a more diverse or different Panel be selected, I would gladly offer up my seat so that this very worthwhile goal could be accomplished."

Maybe that's why I never get picked for these things.