"I didn't want to go in the life raft. He made me go. He had my gun."

That was Joe Cool defendant Guillermo Zarabozo talking about co-defendant Kirby Archer, who has already pleaded guilty. Zarabozo was testifying today at a motion to suppress.

More from Curt Anderon's AP article:

"What was going through your mind?" asked defense attorney Anthony Natale.
"That I would get shot. He had just shot four people," Zarabozo said.
The hearing Tuesday concerned whether statements Zarabozo made to the Coast Guard and FBI after he and Archer were rescued from the life raft will be allowed at trial. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck ruled those statements could be used because Zarabozo was not under arrest or being interrogated, but simply answering routine search-and-rescue questions.
"That would be a normal Coast Guard procedure and not a nefarious, underhanded attempt by the Coast Guard to obtain criminal information," Huck said.

His trial is scheduled for September.

Juror research

Julie Kay examines the new trend of investigating jurors here.

In last year's federal terrorism case against once-suspected "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, a team of defense lawyers were sitting at a back table in the Miami federal courtroom with their laptops searching online all the jurors when they discovered one had lied on her jury questionnaire.
The woman, a Miami-area government employee who has not been identified, said she had no personal experience in the criminal system.
It turned out she was currently under investigation for malfeasance, according to Linda Moreno, a Tampa, Fla., solo trial lawyer who served as a jury consultant for one of Padilla's co-defendants. After the judge was informed, she dismissed the juror. See U.S. v. Hassoun, No. 0:04cr60001 (S.D. Fla.).
The Miami case was not unusual. As more and more information on people becomes available on the Internet, through posting on personal blogs, MySpace, Facebook and other social networking Web sites, the Internet has, in the last few years, become an important tool for jury consultants and trial lawyers.
Jury consultants say such sites are a treasure trove of information about potential and seated jurors that can be used in picking the right jurors, bouncing potential jurors and even influencing jurors through the trial and in closing arguments.
To mine the gold, jury consultants have begun turning to private investigators, some of whom have started niche businesses offering Internet jury research and "personality profiling" of jurors.
"If it's within the law, with peoples' lives at stake and millions and millions of dollars at stake, people will do whatever it takes to win a case," said Marshall Hennington, a Beverly Hills, Calif., jury consultant at Hennington & Associates. "The stakes are getting higher and higher, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to persuade jurors that have strong biases ... so we need information ahead of time. Everything is fair game."

One lawyer suggests it may be unethical to research jurors on the internet. I don't see the argument at all. Thoughts?

Paris in Miami

Paris Hilton has been sued in Miami federal court for not promoting a movie she was in, National Lampoon's Pledge This . The case, available here, landed before Judge Martinez. Here's the Herald article on the case. From the intro:

As if starring in the flop flick National Lampoon's PledgeThis wasn't bad enough, socialite Paris Hilton now has been sued for refusing to promote the film when it was released.
Hilton's breach of contract cost the producers of the film ''lost revenue and profits,'' according to the suit, filed in Miami federal court Tuesday.
A call to Hilton's Los Angeles attorney wasn't immediately returned.
Fort Lauderdale lawyer Michael I. Goldberg, a court-appointed receiver of the film's production company -- The Entertainment Group Fund -- filed the suit against Hilton and her company, Paris Hilton Entertainment.
The Entertainment Group Fund is an affiliate of Worldwide Entertainment Group, a one-time concert promoter that now stands accused of fleecing $300 million from investors.
Entertainment Group paid Hilton $1 million to star in Pledge This, filmed in South Florida.

This should be fun.

Terrible news

Anyone who has tried a case in Ft. Lauderdale knows Creolina's and Rosie. It closed. TERRIBLE NEWS. From the Sun-Sentinel:

Creolina’s, the New Orleans-style restaurant in Fort Lauderdale’s Himmarshee district, will reopen in Davie by September.
After 17 years, owner Mark Sulzinski closed the doors on Southwest Second Street on June 28th. His new restaurant, Creolina’s Dixie Take Out, will be located at 13150 W. State Rd. 84 in the Randal Plaza. There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts and a McDonald's in the same plaza.
“The owner of the building on Second owns the bar next door and he wanted my space to expand,” explains Sulzinski. “So he didn’t renew my lease.”
Creolina’s was on Second since 1996. It first opened in 1991 on Seventh Avenue between Sistrunk and Sunrise.
The house specialties—étouffée, jambalaya, beans and rice—will remain. But prices will be lower. Jambalaya was $8.95 a lunch and $12.95 at dinner. It will be $6.95 all day at the new Creolina’s.
The chef will also add classic Southern dishes, many of which he’s offered as specials. Look for country fried steak, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork and country-style ribs. Sides will includes corn bread, greens, black-eyed peas as well macaroni and cheese.
Fans of Creolina's can rest easy. Waitress Rosemary “Rosie” O’Neal, who has been at restaurant since it opened, will make the move to Davie.
“She’s having a nice vacation,” says Sulzinski. “ This is the longest we haven’t worked in 17 years. We’ve never taken more than a week at a time.”
Sulzinski doesn’t yet have phone service at the new location, but says the old number — 954-524-2003—will soon transfer callers.
If September can't come soon enough, Sulzinski teaches a class at Chef Jean-Pierre's Cooking School in Fort Lauderdale on August 25.

Enjoy it while it lasts...

One more week of good traffic.

Then school starts.

And people forget how to drive.