Snitching ain't easy

Lots of interesting reading on this beautiful Sunday. The Sun-Sentinel has a couple of interesting stories on snitching:

1. The first is about a state prosecutor, Sheila Alu, turned FBI informant in the Broward public corruption case:

"Sheila is for Sheila is for Sheila," said Bill Colon, who served two terms as a Sunrise commissioner in the 1980s. "A lot of people will believe that she betrayed their trust."Marvin Langendorf, a Sunrise resident and City Hall gadfly, applauded her courage."There's too much graft going on and no one ever does anything about it," Langendorf said. "People say they can't trust her. But if you don't do anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about."Those who are not involved in politics likely admire Alu for having the courage to take on an undercover role without training, said Lance deHaven-Smith, a political science professor at Florida State University."If you told your average citizen, 'Other politicians don't trust her,' that would be an endorsement," he said.Call her a snitch or a rat, and Alu has this retort: "I wear that badge with honor."

2. The second is about Operation Deep Six, a state gang case:

"Unlike any gangs I've seen before, they stick together," said the gang detective.On June 26, 2008, detectives in "Operation Deep Six" moved in to take down Top 6. Backed by a grand jury indictment that alleged 91 crimes, SWAT teams from three police agencies raided six homes simultaneously.Detectives tracked down the Top 6 leaders, arresting all 12 within a few weeks.Faced with racketeering charges that could put them in prison for up to 30 years, Top 6's leaders cracked.Jessee Thomas and Ernst Exavier were convicted but got reduced sentences for agreeing to testify against their cohorts. Top 6's leader, Futo Charles, also has agreed to cooperate."I know for me to work it down, I have to be 100% truthful about your questions and about my answers or the deal is off," Charles wrote to prosecutors. "I'm willing to do just that."After at least 20 murders, hundreds of shootings and scores of robberies, burglaries and attacks, Top 6 effectively has been silenced. Palm Beach County is safer today because of it, said police officials and prosecutors."We have seen a real drop in crime," said William Shepherd, Florida's statewide prosecutor. "Which is lives. It's not just numbers on the page."

FBA dinner tonight at the Biltmore

See you all there.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE -- Breaking: Lewis Freeman's practice placed into receivership. Receiver -- Ken Welt.

Robe-itis?

There's been a bunch of funny exchanges this week in the Supreme Court. One tipster sent this one from the attorney's fees case:

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Maybe we have a different perspective. You think the lawyers are responsible for a good result and I think the judges are.
(Laughter.)
MR. CLEMENT: And maybe your perspective's changed, Your Honor.
(Laughter.)

I think most lawyers think that the best judges are the ones that remember what it was like to practice....

While we're off topic, let's take a look at Rick Bascuas' entertaining blog, where he claims that Obi Wan was the hero of Star Wars. Rick, what about Han Solo? R2-D2? Come on...



And as we stray even more off-topic: any Gleeks out there?

Glee - Don't Stop Believe

Judge Seitz case goes to Supreme Court

Yesterday the Supreme Court granted cert in Holland v. Florida, which presents the following question:

Whether the Eleventh Circuit erred in denying equitable tolling to the defendant to excuse his late filing of his habeas petition, based on the conclusion that the late filing was due to “gross negligence” of counsel, while factors beyond “gross negligence” are required for equitable tolling; whether equitable tolling is available to toll the statute of limitation under the AEDPA.

Here's the 11th Circuit opinion. And here's Todd Scher's cert petition. Congrats to Scher for this amazing opportunity. He was appointed CJA and continued to fight for his client, filing a cert petition after the losing before Judge Seitz and the 11th. Getting cert on a habeas case from the indigent docket is almost impossible, so well done!

Cuban spy resentenced

Antonio Guerrero, who was originally sentenced to life, was just resentenced to almost 22 years in prison by Judge Lenard after the case was remanded by the 11th Circuit. The parties had agreed to 20 years in prison, but Judge Lenard found that the case warranted a higher sentence.

Here's the Herald coverage and the AP.

Guerrero has about 11 more years to go, but that's a whole lot better than life. Two other spies will have their resentencings soon.

Prior blog coverage here.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court granted cert in Jeff Skilling's case today, which raises a similar issue to that of the Cuban 5 -- can "searing media attacks" taint a criminal trial. The case also raises questions about the honest services statute, which the New York Times highlighted today in the Conrad Black case.

I like this parenthetical in the article:

(The appeals court decision affirming Mr. Black’s conviction, by Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, contained perhaps the best judicial digression of 2008. Discussing a so-called ostrich jury instruction, Judge Posner paused to say that ostriches do not in fact bury their heads in the sand. “It is pure legend and a canard on a very distinguished bird,” he wrote.)

Alrighty then.

Columbus Day edition

What a strange day -- courts are closed, but schools are open. It only took 10 minutes to get downtown on US1... Apparently, the DBR didn't take the day off. All kinds of fun stuff today, including Vanessa Blum's story on billing rates and her awesome video report:



There's also a story securities cases, which SFL likes because of the new Scott Dimond photo.

And John Pacenti dials in on UBS account holders seeking amnesty.

Jay Weaver at the Herald was busy this weekend on Alan Mendelsohn and Helio Castroneves.

Canes are #9... Dolphins will beat the Jets tonight. And the blog fantasy team racked up a win. And that's your Columbus day edition.

FBI raids Lewis Freeman's office

John Pacenti breaks the story here. It may be over parking:

The FBI executed search warrants at the offices of high-profile accountant and attorney Lewis Freeman, who frequently is picked by judges as a court-appointed receiver or trustee for troubled companies in South Florida, sources said. Freeman and the FBI weren’t talking Thursday when asked about the warrants, which sources said were executed late last week. Legal community sources said the Miami and Plantation offices of Lewis B. Freeman & Partners were searched by the FBI. The search warrants are the latest incarnation of Freeman’s troubles with the U.S. government. Freeman sued the Internal Revenue Service in August over $4.5 million civil assessment against him for allegedly promoting a parking deduction plan that the agency called an abusive tax shelter, according to court documents. The FBI’s presence, however, indicates a criminal investigation may be under way, observers said. “When the IRS assesses someone a penalty, it’s not normal to raid an office,” said Fort Lauderdale tax litigator Martin Press, a partner with Gunster. The IRS typically uses the Treasury Department to execute its search warrants. The FBI is part of the Justice Department. The dapper Freeman is considered an expert on receiverships and speaks nationally on the topic. Information about the warrants remains sealed because criminal charges have not been filed against Freeman, a source said.


In Middle District news, Judge Gregory Presmell had this to say about the lawsuit to allow Segways in the Magic Kingdom: "Although some individuals may, with good reason, not want to use those [wheelchairs and scooters] and instead prefer to use a Seqway, that preference -- standing alone -- is not essential to accessing Disney's parks." Ahhh, judicial humor... standing alone... Presnell is the judge who has ordered litigants to play rock-paper-scissors to settle disputes and recently red-lined a lawyer's pleading.

The defendant “should not be a casualty of the chaos in Mexico.”

That was Hector Flores in the New York Times today, speaking for his client -- a former federal ICE agent, Richard P. Cramer. From the Times:

According to the complaint, on a number of occasions Mr. Cramer used his position to search federal databases and a California state database to see if certain unidentified drug trafficking organization members were informants for American law enforcement.
The complaint says he passed that information along to his cartel handlers, charging $2,000 for one D.E.A. document, as well as information on how federal agents conduct drug investigations and recruit informants.
Mr. Cramer, the complaint said, at one point invested $40,000 in a 2007 plot to smuggle 660 pounds of cocaine to Spain from Panama, passing through United States seaports.
The load was seized, and that turn of events set off a dispute involving Mr. Cramer, a drug lord and lower-level traffickers that included a hunt for informants, according to the complaint.
The drug agency last August arrested an unidentified participant in the plot who, along with other confidential sources, provided information that culminated in Mr. Cramer’s arrest.