Supreme Court during the Trump Address last night (UPDATED WITH WILLIE FERRER'S NEW JOB)

UPDATE -- As expected, Willie Ferrer will be going to Holland & Knight.

We are all Elena Kagan pic.twitter.com/BuoljihPVp

— Josh Sternberg (@joshsternberg) March 1, 2017

That's a pretty funny picture.

It probably sums up how the jury feels in the baseball trial before Judge Williams. It's been 4 weeks and it's still going... Looks like it might perk up today though when Chicago White Sox player Jose Abreu testifies. The government is calling him, but he's the defendant (Jose Estrada's) good friend. Should be interesting:

Abreu left Sox camp after Monday's game against the Cubs, and the Sox said only that he had to tend to personal matters in Miami. Sox manager Rick Renteria said Abreu was expected him back at some point Wednesday, but he said he would not plan to use him in Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch.

Abreu hit the first Sox homer of the spring Monday against the Cubs. He has gone 2-for-5 in two spring games.

"It's something that we were made aware of (ahead of time), and so he has to have this time," Renteria said. "Once he gets back, I'm sure he'll be wanting to get back in the swing of things."

Abreu has declined comment in recent months about the trial, but when Hernandez was indicted last February, he said they had a "respectful relationship." Abreu signed a six-year, $68 million contract with the Sox in 2013 when represented by Praver Shapiro sports agency, which worked with Hernandez and his company, Global Sports Management. But he switched agencies in 2015.

I wonder if Justice Kagan gave that face after this recent exchange:

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Is -- is the -- 924(c) is a statute, it's nothing to do with the guidelines, and it does say sentences have to be consecutive. So I go back to the point I opened with. You are, in effect, asking for a concurrent sentence.

MR. STOLER: Well, just -- just --

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Just adding one day.

MR. STOLER: Well, as Justice Kagan and I discussed, one day is an additional punishment. And one day --

JUSTICE KAGAN: She's Justice Sotomayor.

MR. STOLER: I'm sorry. Wrong end. (Laughter.)

JUSTICE KAGAN: She was the one helping you. (Laughter.)

MR. STOLER: I'm sorry.

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: This is the --

JUSTICE KAGAN: I was the one who wasn't. (Laughter.)

MR. STOLER: I got my ends mixed up. I'm sorry.

SCOTUS grants cert on a habeas case from the 11th Circuit

Back in August 2016, the en banc 11th Circuit had 96 pages of opinions in this AEDPA case (Wilson v. Sellers).  I can honestly tell you that I haven't read it.  But some clerks at the Supreme Court did, and granted cert.  I found the cert petition's cover page interesting.  Here's the question presented:

Issue: Whether the court's decision in Harrington v. Richter silently abrogates the presumption set forth in Ylst v. Nunnemaker — that a federal court sitting in habeas proceedings should “look through” a summary state court ruling to review the last reasoned decision — as a slim majority of the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held in this case, despite the agreement of both parties that the Ylst presumption should continue to apply.

RIP Judge Wapner

We need more judges like him.  For real.  Enjoy:

Response to Joe Patrice's post on criminal defense lawyers

As SDFLA blog readers know, I do not use this forum as a place to discuss my cases.  I use this blog as a place to cover news in this District and other court news that I find interesting.  Every now and then there is an exception, and this is one of those times. 

Joe Patrice at Above The Law had this post where he compared me and other criminal defense lawyers to the Trump administration’s attack on the media as fake news.  In a case that I am handling, the prosecution has come up with various theories which we do not believe have any support in the facts.  One such theory was that my client was paying for the defense of an indicted defendant.  Even though this is demonstrably false and even though the prosecutor never asked us if this was true, the prosecution filed a motion setting out this false theory.  I described the motion (and the prosecution in general) as based on “alternative facts.”

Based on this quote, Patrice then compared me and criminal defense lawyers to Trump’s attack on the media as “fake news”:

Today we grieve in solidarity with the victims of Sweden while the official organs of American government ask that we kindly get over our hangups and just accept the simulation they prefer. It’s how we do things around here now.

Which is not dissimilar to the role criminal defense attorneys routinely play. When you think about it, asking reasonable people to accept all sorts of ludicrous alternative theories in the spirit of creating that shadow of a doubt is a time-honored tradition. … Because defense attorneys are definitely respecting the tricks and tactics of the administration.

But he’s got the analogy backwards. Our Founders created a system with a robust bill of rights so that the media and lawyers could act as a check on the executive branch. Criminal defense lawyers are the cornerstone of our criminal justice system, just as a free press is the cornerstone of our democracy.  The media must be permitted to call out the executive branch when it is less than fully transparent and accurate.  So too must the criminal defense lawyer call out the executive when it fails to prove its allegations. 

Patrice's thinking -- that criminal defense lawyers are out there using tricks to subvert the truth -- has led to all sorts of problems in our system: innocent people being forced to plead guilty, prosecutors holding back evidence (see, e.g., Ted Stevens), and so on.  One study says that 10,000 innocent people are convicted each year.  

Forcing the government to back up what it says with actual proof instead of baseless statements isn’t a “trick” or “tactic.”  This isn’t a defense lawyer “flipping th[e] script” as Patrice describes it.  It is exactly the script that our Constitution dictates and one that I and other criminal defense lawyers are proud to carry out.

Judge William Zloch takes senior status

Thanks to a tipster, I see that Judge William Zloch took senior status on January 31, 2017.  That means that our District now has 3 open seats.  Judge Zloch was the Chief Judge of our District from 2000-2007.  Here's his wiki entry:

William J. "Bill" Zloch (born 1944 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a Senior United States District Judge, as well as a former American football quarterback and wide receiver for the University of Notre Dame.
Following the departure of Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte in 1965, Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian was faced with a wide-open competition for the quarterback position. He opted to move senior Bill Zloch from wide receiver to quarterback for the 1965 season.^[1] Directing a team that was heavily run-oriented, Zloch finished the season completing 36 of 88 passes for 558 yards and three touchdowns.^[2] The team finished 7-2-1 and ranked 8th nationally.
After graduation, Zloch spent three years in the United States Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant, then returned to Notre Dame Law School, completing a Juris Doctor in 1974. He returned to Fort Lauderdale to begin a private law practice.^[3]
On October 9, 1985, President Ronald Reagan nominated Zloch to a newly created seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 1, 1985, and received his commission on November 4, 1985. On July 1, 2000, he began a seven-year term as Chief Judge of the district, ending on June 30, 2007. He was succeeded as Chief Judge by Judge Federico A. Moreno.^[4] He assumed senior status on January 31, 2017.
Judge Zloch on August 21, 2009 sentenced UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld to 40 months in prison with 3 years probation and a $30,000 fine, a term that was harsher than the prosecutors wanted. "Assistant U.S. attorney Jeffrey A. Neiman recommended that Birkenfeld get 30 months in prison for his conviction on one count of conspiracy to defraud the government -- down from the 60-month maximum sentence he is exposed to -- because of his extensive cooperation," the Miami Herald reported.^[5][6]