Wednesday, December 17, 2008

"I thought I loved him, but now, when I look back, I feared him so much. I was his slave."

That was Sharhazad Mir Gholikhan during her 7 hours of direct testimony over the last two days before Judge Cohn. She has been representing herself during this retrial (Bill Barzee represented her during the first trial and has been standby counsel in this case. He directed her.) The prosecutor only had 5 minutes of cross after 7 hours of direct. Smart move? We're about to find out. Closing arguments are this morning.

Here's Vanessa Blum's coverage of this fascinating trial:

As an Iranian woman, Sharhazad Mir Gholikhan says she was required to wear a head covering, forced to marry a man she barely knew and forbidden to travel without her husband's consent.But in the Fort Lauderdale federal courtroom where Gholikhan is on trial, the 31-year-old mother is making her own decisions and acting as her own attorney.Gholikhan's defense to charges she tried to export American-made night vision goggles to Iran: that she had no choice but to obey the orders of her former husband, who dragged her into the illegal plot."Once you get married in Iran, your husband has control over you," she told the American jury deciding her case.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating today. If convicted, she could face more than 10 years in prison.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:53 PM

    What is the over under on the verdict?

    Also,

    If it is an NG, who comes out worse, Bill or Harvey Keitel?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The article below is by Tony Mauro of Legal Times. Federal judges have a new distinction. In addition to life tenure, they will be the only federal employees to begin 2009 without a cost-of-living adjustment to their salaries. That's the upshot of a congressional action last week that got tangled up with the automaker bailout.

    http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202426792620

    Cap Out

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:55 PM

    Moreno sentenced a doctor to 30 years today...8 years over the government's recommended 22. Why? She lied at trial.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8:24 PM

    Meeeester Markus!!!!!!! Let the word go forth: I DO NOT TOLERATE DEFENDANT'S WHO LIE TO JURIES. EVER!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:19 PM

    No surprise. Moreno has the biggest trial penalty in the district.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:47 AM

    I love it, a made for television defense. (Crap). Beam me up.

    ReplyDelete