Friday, March 31, 2006

Speaking of cooperators...


Marc has an interesting post below about the "Stop Snitching" campaign. Judge Huck sentenced a very high profile cooperating witness this week, Jack Abramoff.

We previously posted on Jack Abramoff's different hats. Here is the one he wore for Wednesday's sentencing hearing (it looks like the same one he wore at his guilty plea). Those familiar with the Southern District will recognize one of the friendlier court security officers standing in the background of the picture.

What I find much more interesting than all the hoopla about the hats is the 60 page memo (and 260 letters) that his lawyers filed in support of his request for a low-end of the guideline sentence, which TalkLeft praised as creative lawyering.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

The debate about cooperators...

Professor Berman over at Sentencing Law & Policy has an interesting post about the USA Today article on the anti-snitching campaign.

This, of course, is a topic of great significance in the Southern District of Florida, and we hope this post results in some interesting dialogue.

Here's the post from Prof. Berman:

Wednesday's USA Today has this extended article about the anti-snitching "campaign" that seems to have become a nationwide issue. Here is a taste:

Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching — on other folks in the 'hood — is getting louder. Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses? Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' over-reliance on self-serving criminal informers? Or is it bigger than that? ...

Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, says that, based on federal statistics, one of every four black men from 20 to 29 is behind bars, on probation or on parole, and under pressure to snitch. She estimates one in 12 of all black men in the highest-crime neighborhoods are snitching. She says informers strain the social fabric of poor minority neighborhoods, where as many as half the young men have been arrested....

Hence a backlash — "stop snitching." The slogan appeared in Baltimore about two years ago as the title of an underground DVD featuring threatening, gun-wielding drug dealers... The black community is divided. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy has blasted the Stop Snitching campaign on the hip-hop group's website....

Whatever its intent, the Stop Snitching movement has galvanized officials already apoplectic about witness reluctance and witness intimidation.... Stop Snitching T-shirts have been banned from a number of courthouses. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, whose city recorded the most homicides in a decade last year, threatened to send police into stores to pull them off the shelves. Following the furor over the Stop Snitchin' DVD, Maryland raised witness intimidation from a misdemeanor to a felony, and Baltimore police made a tape of their own, Keep Talking. "People have to snitch," says Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore street cop.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

HIGH PROFILE SENTENCINGS

Jack Abramoff and his former partner Adam Kidan were sentenced by the Hon. Paul C. Huck to five years and ten months, the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines. Both men were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 21 million dollars. Abramoff will likely see that sentenced reduced as he continues to cooperate with the Government regarding alleged corruption by members of Congress.

William Rodriguez-Abadia, the son of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela and the nephew of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela,* was sentenced to 262 months by the Hon. Federico Moreno. At the sentencing hearing, Rodriguez-Abadia informed the Court that he will cooperate against his family. In light of his cooperation, the Government stated that they will likely file a Rule 35 to reduce Rodriguez-Abadia's sentence.

*Disclosure -- David Markus is lead counsel for Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela.

Verdict

After six weeks of trial and seven days of deliberations, I'm very excited to post that my client (and four of the other 9 defendants) were found not guilty today. What an unbelievable feeling. Many people wonder why criminal defense lawyers do what they do. There is no better feeling in the world than hearing those two magical words. Nothing better.

I salute the lawyers I was honored to work with in this case. Roy Black, Maria Neyra, Jackie Perzek, Jared Lopez, Alex Zipperrer, John Ossick, Tom Withers, Nate Diamond, George Vila, John Howes, Scott Srebnick, Hy Shapiro, and Ed Tolley. The prosecutors -- Jim Durham, Fred Kramer, Joe Newman, and Jeff Buerstette -- were gentlemen and excellent lawyers. Judge Edenfield ran a tight ship and made what could have been a 4 month trial a six week trial. His staff was also great.

I knew we'd get a verdict today because my wife and new baby hopped on a plane at 12:30 to come visit me in Savannah. We got the verdict at 12:35... No joke.

What an experience. More to follow.

I might as well blog...

... since we are on day 7 of deliberations.

Jay Weaver reports on the government bugging of the FIU couple here. Very interesting article. Here's the intro: "Federal agents planted a bug in the bedroom of a Florida International University a couple of years ago, netting evidence to charge them as unregistered agents for the Cuban government, according to court records. The FBI also wiretapped the home phones of Professor Carlos Alvarez and his counselor wife, Elsa Alvarez, from at least late 2001 until last summer, collecting electronic evidence on practically all of their conversations.
The reams of intercepts included mundane exchanges and even the private musings between husband and wife." Here is the defense motion on the issue and the government's brief as well.

Also, Jack Abramoff will be sentenced today. Brian Tannebaum blogs about it here and here.