Bed Bug Massacre!

Yes, Trump is making news for firing the AG and for his impending SCOTUS pick.  But did you see that he settled the beg-bug lawsuit in Doral:

White smoke over President Donald Trump’s Trump National Doral Miami golf resort! The scandal of the luxury resort’s bed bugs is about to go away.
In a bit of good news for the new president, court records show his attorneys in Miami have reached a tentative settlement with a business traveler who sued the resort after his back, face and arms were devoured by voracious bed bugs at the revamped resort.
In a terse one-page report just slipped into the court file, court-appointed mediator Frank Allocca filed a notice that reads “an agreement was reached.” There were no details on what will likely be a confidential deal.

News and Notes

1.  Trump to pick SCOTUS nominee tomorrow.  The NY Times has this preview on how the nominee could affect upcoming cases. 

2.  The Ft. Lauderdale shooter was arraigned today.  The PD's office assigned veterans Hector Dopico and Eric Cohen to the case.  More from the Sun-Sentinel here.

3.  This dude found some cocaine in the ocean.  Now's he's in trouble:

But it was an object lesson in what not to do. In December, Mark “The Shark” Quartiano, a celebrity Miami fisherman, found a kilogram brick of cocaine. He promptly alerted the authorities.
Breeding did not. He instead handed over the 45-pound haul to four other people, on the condition they would sell the cocaine and pay a cut to Breeding. All five were caught in the summer — Breeding, a felon, had a firearm in his car when he was arrested — and faced conspiracy charges for the distribution of a controlled substance. Breeding pleaded guilty Wednesday, the News Herald reported, as did the other members of the network; they are awaiting a Feb. 16 sentencing. Breeding may be punished with up to life imprisonment and a fine in the millions of dollars.
In his letter, the fisherman asked that those who find the white lobster not follow his path. “I would like to let the public know the dangers and what not to do if this situation comes about,” Breeding wrote. “This changed my life and way of thinking and also made me aware of some of the dangers that can be found off shore in the Gulf.”

Pryor fading... Gorsuch and Hardiman rising.

According to numerous blogs, Judge Pryor isn't at the top of the SCOTUS list for Scalia's seat. I bet Trump wants someone to sail through for this seat and will save the more controversial selection for the following pick. Here's ABC on Gorsuch, who seems to be the leading contender right now (according to Trump, it will be announced a week from today):

One of Donald Trump's Supreme Court advisers said the process of picking a nominee is "very far along" -- and had words of praise for Colorado judge Neil Gorsuch.

"There is a lot of information in the hopper about who these people are and what their records are like and what qualities they have to serve on the Supreme Court," Leonard Leo told ABC's Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.

Although Leo cautioned he would "never assume a front-runner," he spoke highly of Gorsuch, who sits on the bench of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

"He has very, very distinguished background," Leo said. "He has probably 200 or so published opinions as an appeals clerk judge. They are extremely eloquently written, they're incisive, understandable, clear, opinionated."

“Your client has never coughed once.”

That was Judge Turnoff getting even the defendant to laugh during his suppression hearing involving cough syrup.  From David Ovalle:

For all his Instagram photos of guns, cash and drugs, the self-proclaimed “CEO of the Purple Drank” insisted he wasn’t actually peddling large bottles of prescription cough syrup to Miami’s hip-hop crowd.

He posted all that stuff to enhance his street cred, self-described rap producer Harrison Garcia told a federal judge Monday. And for the likes on social media.

“I had an image to portray, to boost up my followers,” Garcia said. “I guess it’s just the music industry.”

And so Garcia, the accused mastermind of dozens of pharmacy heists across South Florida, claimed he was not a dealer but just a junkie, addicted to drinking the syrup mixed with soda, a brew known as “lean” or “sizzurp.”

The government is accused (again!) of invading the defense camp.

This one deals with the high profile case of Dr. Salomon Melgen, who is represented by Kirk Ogrosky and Matt Menchel. I'll relate the facts as detailed in the motion, which is being heard by Judge Marra:

The government executed a search warrant on Dr. Melgen’s office back in February of 2013. According to the motion, Dr. Melgen then retained a Medicare billing consultant, Ann Rose, to assist them in the representation.  Nevertheless, the government subpoenaed Dr. Melgen for records related to Ann Rose.  

Dr. Melgen’s lawyers informed the government that it had retained Rose and asked the government if it had issued a Grand Jury subpoena directly to her.  The government responded that it had issued a subpoena, but that it was prior to learning that Rose had been retained by Dr. Melgen’s lawyers.  So, Dr. Melgen’s lawyers requested that they be allowed to participate to protect the privilege.  The government did not respond and went forward without allowing Dr. Melgen’s lawyers to participate.  An indictment was returned in April of 2015.

Post indictment, Dr. Melgen learned that the prosecution had issued another Grand Jury subpoena to Ms. Rose a month after his lawyers had informed the government that she was working for them as a consultant on the case.  Ms. Rose had complied with the subpoena and was interviewed by the prosecution.  Dr. Melgen’s attorneys were never told of the interview, any grand jury appearance, or allowed to lodge any objections.  And, the government apparently has not provided any discovery to Dr. Melgen related to what happened.

On December 6, 2016, Dr. Melgen filed a motion in limine seeking discovery from SDFL and an proffer outside the presence of the jury if the government seeks to call their case consultant at trial.  This month, the prosecution responded by telling Judge Marra that they didn’t ask any questions about the consulting engagement and Ms. Rose didn’t reveal any privileged material.  Dr. Melgen’s reply stated the obvious: how would Dr. Melgen or his attorneys ever know what happen or how to object without any discovery? 

If true, how can the government justify issuing a subpoena to an attorney’s consultant with knowledge that the consultant is part of the defense team without even giving the lawyers an opportunity to object?

Here's the motion, response, and the reply. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Everyone wants a piece of El Chapo

Even though he's being prosecuted in the EDNY (here's the indictment), 6 other districts want him too.  As does DOJ.  And lots of others. From the Government's press release:

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Goldbarg, Hiral Mehta, Patricia Notopoulos, Gina Parlovecchio and Michael Robotti from the Eastern District of New York; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Fels, Lynn Kirkpatrick and Kurt Lunkenheimer from the Southern District of Florida; and Trial Attorneys Amanda Liskamm, Anthony Nardozzi and Michael Lang of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section.

The case was investigated by the DEA, ICE and the FBI, in cooperation with Mexican and Colombian law enforcement authorities.  Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Northern District of Illinois, the Western District of Texas, the Southern District of New York, the Southern District of California, and the District of New Hampshire.  The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance in bringing Guzman Loera to the United States to face charges.  The investigative efforts in this case were coordinated with the Department of Justice’s Special Operations Division, comprising agents, analysts, and attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, DEA, FBI, ICE, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and the New York State Police. 

Our very own U.S. Attorney Ferrer is making an appearance "of counsel" in the EDNY case.  What a show...  the government even filed this detention memo, as if El Chapo is going to get a bond.  Ha!

We see you, Judge Ed Carnes. We see you!

He is having too much fun in this Kardashian case before the 11th Circuit.  The introduction:

Kimberly, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian appeal the district court’s denial of their motion to compel arbitration of Kroma Makeup, EU’s claims against them for cosmetics trademark infringement. At first blush, the issue appears to require application of Florida’s doctrine of equitable estoppel under which a party to an agreement who relies on it in a dispute with a non-party can be required by that non-party to comply with other terms of the agreement, including the arbitration clause. But there is a wrinkle in this case: the arbitration clause which the non-party to the agreement is seeking to enforce is explicitly limited to disputes between the parties. What then?

 And the conclusion:

Like makeup, Florida’s doctrine of equitable estoppel can only cover so much. It does not provide a non-signatory with a scalpel to re-sculpt what appears on the face of a contract. The district court correctly denied the Kardashians’ motion to compel Kroma EU to arbitrate the dispute between them.

Ft. Lauderdale airport shooter detained

No surprise there.  And his lawyer, Bob Berube, agreed to it.  The Sun-Sentinel has the details about the hearing where evidence came out that he thought he was under "mind control" and had visited jihadi chat rooms:

Accused airport shooter Esteban Santiago told investigators after his arrest that he communicated with Islamic State terrorists or sympathizers in "jihadi chat rooms" before he killed five people in Fort Lauderdale, authorities said in court Tuesday.
Whether that's true is not clear. Prosecutors and agents are still combing through electronic devices Santiago may have used, looking for evidence to show whether he was radicalized and whether he actually visited those terrorist chat rooms and websites, law enforcement sources said.
Santiago's statements to investigators were revealed during a court hearing Tuesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.