Walt Nauta turns to Sasha Dadan as local counsel

 How many hits is her website getting today?  I like that she's a former public defender.  From her website:

As a Florida bar licensed attorney, Sasha began her legal career at the Office of the Public Defender in the 19th judicial Circuit. As an Assistant Public Defender she represented over 3,000 clients in felonies, misdemeanors, DUIs, and juvenile cases where she gained significant trial experience. She achieved favorable results for her clients that ended in the dismissal of many criminal cases, acquittals, and suppression of evidence. Her ability to write, research, and analyze case law was key in her ability to suppress evidence and win appeals. Taking depositions of essential witnesses, police officers, and experts proved promising in settlement of her cases leading to satisfied clients. While at the Public Defender’s Office she received over 100 hours of continued legal education training in criminal law and trial preparation. She is also licensed to practice in the Middle District and Southern District of Florida.

After leaving the Public Defender’s Office, she handled civil cases involving domestic violence injunctions, time-sharing and child support matters. She helped establish the first Injunction for Protection program on the Treasure Coast assisting survivors of domestic violence seeking an injunction in the courtroom. Her profound knowledge of domestic violence injunction cases has led to the issuance of many injunctions and her aggressive trial tactics has made her invaluable and sought after for legal representation.

Here's the Herald coverage of the arraignment:

An aide to former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring with the former president to obstruct the U.S. government’s efforts to retrieve classified documents during a brief hearing in Miami federal court on Thursday. Walt Nauta, a Navy veteran who served as a Trump aide in the White House and now works for him as his personal valet, uttered only three words during the arraignment. When asked by Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres if he had reviewed the indictment, he replied, “Yes, your honor.” It was Nauta’s third scheduled hearing for what is typically a simple proceeding. Because he did not have a local attorney with credentials to appear in South Florida federal court, he had been unable to enter a plea with Trump on June 13. He missed a second hearing because a flight was canceled due to bad weather and he also had not yet retained a local counsel. On Thursday, he had one — Sasha Dadan, a Fort Pierce attorney and former public defender, who formally entered his please with the court. His Washington, D.C., defense attorney, Stanley Woodward, also appeared in court.

The blog is 18 today.

It's really hard to believe that I started this experiment back in 2005 when I was 32 years old (I'm 50 now). Since then, there have been over 4,400 posts, over 16,000 comments, and over 6.3 million page views.  It's hard to believe!  (The first post called for President Bush to appoint a Floridian to the Supreme Court in Justice O'Connor's seat.  It didn't happen then; instead we got John Roberts.  Of course, we got the first Floridian with Justice Jackson last year.)

The podcast, For the Defense, is catching up. Today is our 33rd episode and we've had over 128,000 downloads. Pretty cool!

Today's episode -- Gerald Lefcourt for Abbie Hoffman -- marks our 33rd episode and we've had over 128,000 downloads. Pretty cool!  The release is below.

The blog and the podcast are labors of love and I really do love keeping up with our district and with the great trials.  Thanks again for reading, listening, and sending tips.  

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FOR THE DEFENSE -- SPECIAL JULY 4TH EPISODE JERRY LEFCOURT (right) FOR ABBIE HOFFMAN Happy Fourth of July! This is the perfect episode to celebrate our freedom and independence -- Jerry Lefcourt for Abbie Hoffman in the Chicago 8 trial. (Listen on your computer here, or on Apple, Google, Spotify, or Amazon). Jerry is a legend and you're going to love the stories he tells about this once-in-a-lifetime trial -- from how he got the case to getting sent to jail to the impact on our country. Next up, in two weeks, is Lisa Wayne, the executive director of NACDL.  She will discuss her representation of New Orleans district attorney, Jason Williams.  Thanks for your feedback on the first two episodes with Milton Hirsch (Pedro Guerrero) and Todd Blanche (Paul Manafort). That's Jerry and Abbie leaving court in 1969.  As always, you can catch these episodes on all podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and Google,  All other platforms can be accessed on this website.  Please send me your feedback -- and of course, subscribe, like and comment!  If you have a friend that would like to receive these updates, please have them sign up here.   Hosted by David Oscar Markus and produced by rakontur

Game On (Again) for Sports Gambling in Florida?

 By John R. Byrne

You may remember that brief window when sports gambling was legal in Florida. It was based on a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe and Florida. But then a few brick-and-mortar casinos challenged the compact in federal court in D.C. They initially won, halting sports betting.

Well, dust off your Hard Rock Sportsbook app. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the district court, holding that the Secretary of the Interior did not violate the Administrative Procedures Act when she allowed the gaming compact to go into effect.

The opinion, excerpted below, gets into the meaning of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and what it can--and cannot--regulate. But the Court dodged a significant question. Under the gaming compact, when a person places a bet electronically in Florida, the bet is "deemed" to take place "where received at the location of the servers" (these servers apparently being located on Seminole land). So, even if the bettor is not physically located on Indian land when placing the bet, the bet is considered to be placed on Indian land. The Court did not address whether that's legal under Florida law (or even whether the Florida statute ratifying the compact is constitutional).

My guess is that the app will be accepting bets again soon, but there'll be more legal challenges to come.  In the meantime, Dolphins at +1100 to win the AFC....

Seminole Gaming Appeal by John Byrne on Scribd

Bench and Bar Conference

Here's an email that went out from Chief Judge Altonaga,  Looks to be a great conference.

On behalf of all of the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, I am pleased to invite you to attend our Court's biennial Bench and Bar Conference. The Conference will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on September 8, 2023, in Miami Beach, Florida. The Bench and Bar Conference Ad Hoc Committee has put together a wonderful program.

It is our hope that attorneys with a variety of practice areas and diverse experience levels will attend the Conference. To encourage newer members of the Bar to attend, the Committee has allocated 100 seats for young lawyers (defined as lawyers in their first five years of practice). The discounted price for the first 100 qualifying young lawyers will be $50 for general admission. Once the first 100 spots are filled, all tickets will be sold at the full price of $200. We anticipate that tickets will sell quickly, so if you plan to attend please register as soon as possible. Kindly note that receipt of this invitation does not automatically reserve your spot.

Building on the success of prior Bench and Bar Conferences, the 2023 Conference promises to be exceptional. In addition to attending two plenary sessions, you will also have the choice to attend two of six breakout sessions. During these breakout sessions, attendees will have the chance to communicate informally with Judges and other attorneys in smaller, seminar-type groups.

Please visit the website, www.sdflabenchbarconference.com for additional information on the sessions and to register before the Conference sells out. 

Best wishes, and we hope to see you at the Conference.

Sincerely,

Cecilia M. Altonaga

Chief United States District Judge

Local Lawyer Gets Huge Win Before Supreme Court

By John R. Byrne

Local lawyer and all-around good guy Ashley Keller just got a huge win on a Supreme Court case he argued this term. Personal jurisdiction issue. If a state requires a corporation to consent to personal jurisdiction in the state as a condition of doing business in the state, can that corporation be sued in the state even where (1) the dispute does not have any connection to the state; (2) the state is not the corporation's principal place of business; and (3) the state is not the corporation's place of incorporation? Answer: Yes. 

In a landmark reaffirmance of some century-old precedent, the Court held that nothing in the due process clause prevents a state from requiring a foreign corporation to consent to general (personal) jurisdiction as a condition of registering to do business in that state. 

 

The opinion is below and it’s a good read with an interesting mixed majority.

Now all the lawyers down here need to get the Florida legislature to pass the same law! 

Mallory Opinion by John Byrne on Scribd