Shipwrecked!

By John R. Byrne

"Two 16th-century storylines set the stage for the sinking of la Trinité and France’s doomed efforts to colonize Florida. The first is one of empire: France, England, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands all hungered for new lands, new trade routes, and new resources in the so-called New World. The second is one of religion: Europe, long united in faith under the Catholic Church, fractured and descended into religious wars as the Protestant Reformation spread from kingdom to kingdom."

Is this the opening passage of a riveting non-fiction book about the fate of a cursed French ship? No! It's the background section of an Eleventh Circuit opinion that came out yesterday. The case involved a fight over the sunken remains of la Trinité, a French ship which sank off the coast of Cape Canaveral in 1565. In 2016, a company called Global Marine Exploration, Inc. (which in my head I'm imagining as the equivalent to Bill Paxton's crew from the movie Titanic) discovered the remains of the ship. But France called dibs, resulting in this litigation. 

In the end, the Eleventh Circuit held that the Sunken Military Craft Act (yes, this exists) barred Global Marine’s lawsuit because la Trinité was on military noncommercial service when it sank. But in getting to this holding, Chief Judge Pryor recounts an intriguing aspect of Florida history that involved warring battle ships, a devastating hurricane, and beheadings. Opinion here. 

It's all Alligator Alcatraz (UPDATED with full order)

 As we wait Judge Williams' decision on whether to issue a permanent injunction, another Alcatraz case was assigned to Judge Rudy Ruiz. 

Below is a portion of his 47-page order transferring the case to the Middle District (UPDATE -- here's a link to the full order):

Update: Judge Ruiz orders ACLU Alligator Alcatraz case be moved from the Southern District of FL to The Middle District of FL where Collier County falls under.

Dismisses the fifth amendment claim because the federal government announced Krome as the immigration court for AA. https://t.co/wf6dK4gS0T pic.twitter.com/61SgfOGZCl

— Churchill Ndonwie (@ChurchillNdonwi) August 19, 2025

  And here's the Miami Herald coverage:

Saying circumstances had changed, a federal judge in Miami dismissed a key claim in a lawsuit over Alligator Alcatraz detainees’ access to courts and legal services on Monday and moved the case to a different district.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II wrote in a 47-page ruling that the lawsuit by lawyers and detainees at the Everglades immigration detention camp belonged in the Middle District of Florida because that court oversees legal disputes in Collier County, where the facility is largely located. He ordered the case transferred. But first, he said an allegation that Alligator Alcatraz detainees had no access to immigration courts was rendered moot when the Trump administration in recent days designated Krome North Processing Center in west Miami-Dade County as the venue for detainees’ cases to be heard.

The designation came more than a month after the first detainees were brought to Alligator Alcatraz. But Ruiz wrote that there was nothing more to be done and tossed a claim alleging violations of detainees’ Fifth Amendment rights. That left one claim — alleging a lack of confidential and swift access to attorneys in violation of the First Amendment — alive. “Prudence in this matter has revealed changed circumstances, a moot claim, and improper venue warranting transfer,” Ruiz wrote. Ruiz’s ruling came hours after he gathered attorneys on the case in his courtroom to debate a request by the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs to force the state and federal governments to identify an immigration court for the facility and a confidential channel for detainees to talk with their attorneys. The lack of an official immigration court designated to handle cases for detainees held at the makeshift detention camp has been a chief sticking point for lawyers, who said the issue was a violation of detainees’ Fifth Amendment rights. Immigration attorneys said their clients initially began receiving hearings at Krome after Alligator Alcatraz opened in early July, but that quickly ended, leaving detainees unable to petition the courts for bond.

RIP Gerry Spence

Just weeks after this blog reflected on the passing of Miami’s own Roy Black, the criminal defense bar has lost another giant: Gerry L. Spence, the Wyoming-born trial lawyer whose folksy charm, moral conviction, and unbroken string of jury wins made him one of the most celebrated advocates in American history. Spence died peacefully at his Montecito, California, home on August 13, 2025. He was 96.

I always like watching him talk for a few minutes about the burden of proof.  

Born January 8, 1929, in Laramie, Wyoming, Spence rose from modest roots to become a national figure in both civil and criminal trials. His résumé reads like a highlight reel: the $10.5 million verdict for nuclear whistleblower Karen Silkwood’s estate; the acquittal of Imelda Marcos; the defense of Randy Weaver after the Ruby Ridge standoff; and multimillion-dollar civil verdicts against corporate titans like McDonald’s.

In the early 1990s, Spence founded the Trial Lawyers College on his Thunderhead Ranch, where he trained a generation of lawyers in his signature approach — authentic storytelling, emotional connection, and unshakable courage. Known for his trademark fringed buckskin jacket, he was also a prolific author, penning titles like How to Argue and Win Every Time and The Making of a Country Lawyer.

Spence is survived by his wife of 57 years, LaNelle “Imaging” Spence, his children, and the countless clients and lawyers whose lives he touched. Like Roy Black, he believed the courtroom was a place not just to win, but to stand for something larger — and in doing so, he left a legacy that will endure well beyond the cases he tried.

Jason Reding Quinones sworn in

Congratulations to Mr. Reding Quinones! He was sworn in today in Washington DC by AG Pam Bondi.

 

Field Trip!

Well, almost.  This is such a great story (via the Miami Herald):

A Miami judge overseeing an environmental lawsuit seeking to shut down Alligator Alcatraz said Tuesday at the end of a contentious afternoon of witness testimony that she would like to take up Attorney General James Uthmeier on his invitation to visit the Everglades immigration detention center. Surprising attorneys for the DeSantis administration, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said she’d heard Uthmeier extend an invitation to visit the detention camp during an Aug. 8 Fox Business interview in which he referred to her as a “leftist, activist judge.” “I invite the judges, come visit these facilities,” said Uthmeier, who also referenced a different federal lawsuit in Miami about detainees’ access to lawyers and courts.  

Alas, it doesn't look like it's going to happen:

Williams said she had interpreted the invitation to be serious. When the state’s lawyers said they had no knowledge of an official invitation, she said she had been in contact with the U.S. Marshalls about a possible site visit and was prepared to go this week. Williams dropped the issue when state lawyers reiterated their surprise.

No Venue Change? That’s Nuts, Says the Parnells — But the Court Disagrees

 The Eleventh Circuit had no sympathy for Stewart and Michael Parnell’s attempt to crack open their convictions over the infamous peanut salmonella outbreak.

In a decision (by Judge Carnes, joined by Chief Judge Pryor and Judge Luck) affirming the denial of their § 2255 motions, the court held that even if the brothers could show a Skilling presumption of jury prejudice, that alone doesn’t prove ineffective assistance of counsel. Both Strickland prongs — deficient performance and prejudice — still have to be met.

The Parnells argued their lawyers should have moved the trial away from the Albany Division, given extensive media coverage and community hostility. But the court found the defense teams — six lawyers with 122 years of combined experience — made a deliberate, strategic choice to stay put. Why? They believed a rural, peanut-savvy jury was their best shot at a “government overreach” defense and might be more forgiving about plant conditions.

As the panel put it:

“The unanimous decisions of the two defense teams not to seek a change of venue… was a strategic decision… virtually unchallengeable.”

And in one of the more candid moments from trial counsel:

“[My] concern… was not so much that the motion lacked merit — it was that it would be granted.”

In other words, the Parnells’ lawyers didn’t want the trial to be moved. 

See you later Alligator

 Judge Kathy Williams temporarily halts construction at Alligator Alcatraz.  From the Miami Herald:

 A federal judge has put a temporary but critically important halt on construction at Alligator Alcatraz. It wasn’t for the reasons you might think: lack of due process, detaining immigrants without criminal convictions, limited access to legal counsel and religious services or the fact that the government is housing thousands of people in tents in a hurricane zone. No, this ruling, issued Thursday, is the result of this center being built in just eight days in the middle of the Everglades. There was no time to consider the threat it may pose to endangered species, clean water, dark skies and the sensitive ecosystem. Now there is, thanks to a lawsuit brought by the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental advocacy groups Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice.

Hacked!

 Uh oh... CM/ECF has been hacked.  From Politico:

The electronic case filing system used by the federal judiciary has been breached in a sweeping cyber intrusion that is believed to have exposed sensitive court data across multiple U.S. states, according to two people with knowledge of the incident.

The hack, which has not been previously reported, is feared to have compromised the identities of confidential informants involved in criminal cases at multiple federal district courts, said the two people, both of whom were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the hack.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — which manages the federal court filing system — first determined how serious the issue was around July 4, said the first person. But the office, along with the Justice Department and individual district courts around the country, is still trying to determine the full extent of the incident.

It is not immediately clear who is behind the hack, though nation-state-affiliated actors are widely suspected, the people said. Criminal organizations may also have been involved, they added.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment. Asked whether it is investigating the incident, the FBI referred POLITICO to the Justice Department. The Justice Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

It is not immediately clear how the hackers got in, but the incident is known to affect the judiciary’s federal core case management system, which includes two overlapping components: Case Management/Electronic Case Files, or CM/ECF, which legal professionals use to upload and manage case documents; and PACER, a system that gives the public limited access to the same data.

In addition to records on witnesses and defendants cooperating with law enforcement, the filing system includes other sensitive information potentially of interest to foreign hackers or criminals, such as sealed indictments detailing non-public information about alleged crimes, and arrests and search warrants that criminal suspects could use to evade capture.