Gagged?

Unfortunately, I will not be blogging about the Liberty City 7 case any more until the following issue is cleared up:

As regular readers know, Judge Lenard gagged the defendants for the retrial. She also gagged acquitted defendant Lyglenson Lemorin and his lawyer Joel DeFabio. I recently filed a notice of appearance for Mr. DeFabio to litigate the gag order, and Judge Lenard issued the following order:

"[T]he gag order previously issued by the Court on December 13, 2007 applies to Lyglenson Lemorin, who is now a witness for the defense in this case (see D.E. 772), and his agents, as well as to Joel DeFabio, Esq., who has been appointed by the Court to represent Mr. Lemorin as a witness associated with the defense in this case, and TO MR. DEFABIO'S AGENTS as well. . . " (emphasis added)

Because I am now one of DeFabio's agents, I take it that I cannot speak about the case. I filed a motion to clarify that today, but until that is ruled on, I don't think I will be posting about the case.

Standby Liberty City 7

Judge Lenard had to continue jury selection because of an emergency situation for one of the defense lawyers. Status conference on Wednesday.

Liberty City 7 retrial

It's now the Liberty City 6, and the retrial starts today, three weeks after the jury hung in the last trial.

Here's coverage by the Herald and AP. What do you think is going to happen? Another mistrial? That's what some of the jurors from trial #1 think (from Jay Weaver's article):

''From now on, they are going to have a hung jury just as we did,'' said Jose Viola, 58, an audio-visual technician for Miami-Dade public schools, who sat on the first panel and thought all of the defendants were innocent.
''There are going to be people who won't have the stomach to send these men to prison because they were set up,'' Viola said. ``And there are going to be people who will want to send them to prison because of al Qaeda.''
Delorise Thompkins, 64, who works at South Miami Hospital, agreed with her colleague on the first jury.
''I think it may hang again,'' she said. ``You're going to find someone always afraid of terrorist groups, but then when you see the evidence, there's not a lot there -- no plans, no papers, no pictures, no nothing, connecting them to Osama bin Laden.''

If that happens, will they go for trial #3?

And while Liberty City starts up, the Padilla sentencing starts Tuesday. Here's Vanessa Blum's coverage.

Should an acquitted defendant, his wife and his lawyer be gagged

That's the issue raised in this morning's article by Vanessa Blum:

A federal judge who declared a mistrial last month for six South Florida men charged with conspiring to support al-Qaida is taking aggressive steps to limit publicity related to the case, including silencing lawyers for a man the jury found not guilty.With a sweeping gag order imposed Dec. 13, U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cited the need to damp down media coverage that could complicate efforts starting Jan. 7 to find impartial jurors to rehear the case.

Her order at the close of the first trial prohibits the defendants, their lawyers, prosecutors, and others, such as agents, investigators and witnesses, from talking to reporters, raising issues for defenders of free speech and drawing a challenge from one of the lawyers covered by the order.

Lenard extended the same restrictions to Lyglenson Lemorin, who was acquitted, and his criminal defense lawyer, as well as an attorney representing the Haitian national in immigration proceedings.The gag order is so broad that federal prosecutors preparing to retry the case contend it applies to Lemorin's wife, who was once listed as a potential defense witness.

I give my opinion in the article, which is that an acquitted defendant and his family should be permitted to speak.

Liberty City 7 update

Judge Lenard has ordered an anonymous jury in the next Liberty City 7 trial. (via Miami Herald). Very bad news for the defense.

Here's the intro to the article:

A federal judge on Friday aired concerns about the possibility of jury tampering in the upcoming retrial of an alleged homegrown terrorism group and ordered that Miami-Dade jurors be selected anonymously for the high-profile proceeding.U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cited numerous reasons for her order -- including a jury list handed by one defense lawyer to his client's mother so she could pray for an acquittal during first trial deliberations last week. Lenard noted that it was a ''pristine list'' with all 12 of the jurors' names and ''X'' marks next to six of them.''At this point, it's unclear to the court what that list was about,'' she said.Her order -- an edict normally seen in organized crime or major drug cases -- means that potentially hundreds of Miami-Dade voters who receive jury summonses for the retrial in January will be referred to by number, not by name. The judge also ordered the U.S. Marshals to provide criminal background checks on all prospective jurors for both sides.***''I do find there is strong reason to believe the jury needs protection,'' Lenard said. ``Here we have defendants accused of being members of a terrorist cell.''

On the other hand, Judge Lenard ordered the government to keep Lyglenson Lemorin here in the United States because he may be needed for the next trial. (via Sun-Sentinel). From the article:

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cautioned the government against moving ahead "with lightning speed so that he would not be available to testify.""I don't know if it's on a fast track or not on a fast track," Lenard said. "I have to protect the rights of these defendants and I intend to do so."

So, do we start calling the case the Liberty City 6 now?

Where in the world is Lyglenson Lemorin?

Check out this AP story, by Curt Anderson, about the one defendant who was acquitted in the Liberty City 7 case. Even when you win, you lose....

A U.S. jury did not think Lyglenson Lemorin was involved in a terrorism conspiracy to topple Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices, but he did not walk out of court a free man.
Instead, federal agents took the legal U.S. resident to Georgia, where he remained Wednesday facing possible deportation to his native Haiti, his attorneys said. And Lemorin could be forced to return to court early next year in Miami to testify in the retrial of his co-defendants in the so-called "Liberty City Seven" case.
Lemorin's treatment has led people involved in the case to question the government's motives, especially if he is charged with largely identical terrorism-related offenses in deportation proceedings.

We also haven't had a Go Dore Go segment in a while, but the article quotes blog favorite Dore Louis:

His lawyers didn't know where he was until Monday, and Lemorin told them he feared he would be taken to the U.S. terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A Miami lawyer who represents a co-defendant in the Jose Padilla terrorism case said Lemorin was afraid for good reason.
"This is a category of individuals who are subjected to different rules," said attorney Marshall Dore Louis, who is not involved in the Liberty City Seven case. "I think anybody who is in that system should be terrified about what the government is going to do."

When are we going to get a verdict?

The Liberty City 7 jury has been awfully quiet since being Allen charged...

Are they going to compromise?
Hang?
Reach a verdict on all counts?

Thoughts?

''It is your duty to agree upon a verdict if you can do so."

That was Judge Lenard today to the Liberty City 7 jury. Apparently they sent another note today saying that they were still deadlocked. Judge Lenard read the "Allen charge" sometimes known as the dynamite charge... Defense lawyers hate this jury instruction because it typically leads juries to compromise.

Hung jury in Liberty City 7 case?

Thanks to the many tipsters who have emailed me about the Liberty City 7 case. Apparently, the jury sent a note today (the 4th day of deliberations) that they are unable to reach verdicts on any of the seven defendants. Judge Lenard told them to keep trying (with the agreement of the parties). Sorry I was slow in getting this up today -- I was in the northern part of the District, Ft. Pierce. I'm not sure who thinks that Ft. Pierce should be part of the Southern District of Florida! I was almost in Disney World.

Anyway, back to LC7. The AP's Curt Anderson reports:

Jurors signaled Thursday they are struggling to reach verdicts in the case against seven men accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices.

Jurors sent a note in their fourth day of deliberations that they have not reached agreement on the guilt or innocence of any of the seven defendants on any of the four terror-related conspiracy charges.

"There has been significant discussion regarding the evidence and the law," said Gregory Prebish, attorney for defendant Burson Augustin. "It's clear that the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict for any one of the defendants on any of the counts."

Padilla co-defendant attempts suicide at FDC

Jay Weaver is reporting here that Jose Padilla co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun attempted suicide last week at the Federal Detention Center. Sentencing on Padilla, Hassoun, and Jayoussi was supposed to begin tomorrow, but we're told that it has been pushed off until January.

In other news, the Liberty City 7 jury has the case (via Vanessa Blum). Over/under on verdict? As with the Padilla verdict, I say verdicts by the end of the week. (Rumpole never did send me my check...)

Florida group was a terrorist cell seeking 'unholy alliance' with al-Qaida

That was Jackie Arango closing today in the Liberty City 7 case.

Lots of coverage here (Miami Herald), here (Sun-Sentinel), and here (AP).

From the Sun-Sentinel article:

Arango urged jurors to reject defense claims that the group's leader Narseal Batiste only pretended to be a terrorist in a fraud to extort money from the informant.

"A fraud is trying to get you to buy into something that is patently not true," Arango said. "That is the only fraud going on here."

The men, struggling construction workers who hung out in a Liberty City warehouse, are charged with trying to join forces with al-Qaida in plots to bomb the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI headquarters in North Miami Beach.

If convicted, each faces up to 70 years in prison.The jury is expected to begin deliberating Friday after defense lawyers complete their closing arguments.

Informants in the Liberty City 7 case

Bob Norman of the New Times has this interesting piece about the informants from the Liberty City 7 case. He argues that the jury is not hearing enough of the informants' background. Here's the intro:

One extorted $7,000 from a friend who raped his girlfriend and then, after accepting the money, beat her up and went to jail.
The other failed an FBI polygraph test while working on an undercover investigation, which one former FBI agent says should have disqualified him from ever working for the government again. Oh, and he was also once charged with roughing up a woman.
And these are supposed to be the good guys.


HT: Fake Admiral

Narseal Batiste: Day 5

Today was the fifth day on the stand for Narseal Batiste, the lead defendant in the Liberty City 7 case. He's still on direct. Curt Anderson has all the details and says that he is expected to testify the rest of the week! Is it me or is this way too long for anyone to be on the stand? I love the call for him to testify; it takes a lot of guts and is very high risk, high reward, but this seems to be too much. Thoughts?

More on Narseal Batiste

Today was Batiste's third day of testifying. I like the idea of him being called as a witness, but 3 days is too long to be up there... Jurors get bored. Anyway, he was crying today. Here's more from Curt Anderson:

Wiping away tears, the suspected ringleader of a budding terror cell testified Thursday that none of his six co-defendants were told about a plot to destroy the Sears Tower that the leader said he was making up to con a possible terrorism financier out of money.
Narseal Batiste, 33, said he did not inform his six "brothers" about plans he was describing to a Middle Eastern man who appeared to be an al-Qaida emissary, but who was in reality an FBI informant carrying a hidden tape recorder.
"Nobody knew about it. Like I said, this was imagination," Batiste testified. "I would have been deeply embarrassed if any of the brothers knew I was engaging in that kind of conversation."
Batiste got choked up after his attorney, Ana M. Jhones, asked how the "mission" of the six other defendants differed from the violent attacks he was discussing with the informant, a man he knew as "Brother Mohammed."
"The only mission the brothers had was just walking through the neighborhood and preaching about Jesus," Batiste said. A lunch recess was called after he became emotional and was unable to continue on the witness stand.

Liberty City 7 defendant takes stand!

Yesterday, Narseal Batiste took the stand in his own defense. According to Vanessa Blum:

Batiste, who seemed at ease as he spoke to the jury, said the events leading to his June 2006 arrest began with his desire to raise money for a non-profit religious organization in Liberty City.

Asked if his group, the Universal Divine Saviors, received many donations, Batiste responded, "Quite frankly, if I'd received donations, I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. So the answer is no."

I agree with the commentors in the article that it's a high-risk strategy, but it's one the defense had to take. Based on how these guys were portrayed, the only way a jury is going to rule for them is to think of them as real people who were just trying to get by, not terrorists. Stay tuned...

Government rests in Liberty City 7 case

Defense's turn.

Here's Jay Weaver's article.

And here's Curt Anderson's about the Rule 29 hearing.

This trial is moving much faster than everyone anticipated....

Should Liberty City 7 jury hear from "radicalization" expert?

Yes, says Judge Lenard who is going to permit the government expert Raymond Tanter to testify as to how regular people become terrorists. From Vanessa Blum's article in the Sun-Sentinel:

The federal government's leading expert witness in its terrorism case against seven Miami men will take the stand this week to answer what may be the most pressing question facing law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: How do ordinary individuals become terrorists?

In what will be the first testimony of its kind in a U.S. terrorism trial, Raymond Tanter is expected to tell jurors that most would-be terrorists start off as unremarkable individuals seeking a sense of belonging and purpose within an extremist group.Prosecutors want Tanter, a political science professor at Georgetown University, to tell jurors the seven defendants accused of plotting to bomb the Sears Tower in Chicago fit that profile and were on a path likely to end in violence.

Tanter's testimony is based on a theory called the radicalization process. It is important to the government's case because the defendants — who have no Middle Eastern roots, mostly grew up in South Florida and practiced a blend of religions — may not fit jurors' notions about terrorists.Defense lawyers tried unsuccessfully to block Tanter from testifying, describing his theories as unscientific and too new to be considered reliable.

Say hello to my little friend

You're gonna love this. Here's the AP coverage of yesterday's exchange between Albert Levin and star government witness Elie Assad:

The star prosecution witness in a terrorism conspiracy case against seven Miami men said he liked the gangster film "Scarface" so much he frequently used the main character's last name.

The witness, Elie Assad, acknowledged Wednesday under questioning from a defense lawyer that he was often known as Elie Assad Montana after arriving in the United States from the Middle East in the late 1990s. When asked why by defense attorney Albert Levin, Assad replied, "'Scarface.'"

"Like Tony Montana?" Levin asked.

"I liked maybe the movie, sir," Assad responded.

The 1983 film, directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, features Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee who rises with spectacular violence to become lord of a Miami cocaine empire. The movie spawned many indelible lines, such as Tony's "Say hello to my little friend!" while brandishing an assault weapon.

So, who is this guy?

Working covertly for the FBI, Assad acted as an emissary from al-Qaida who was supposedly sent to help the group of seven Miami men, led by 33-year-old Narseal Batiste, realize their alleged goal of destroying the Sears Tower in Chicago and attacking five FBI offices around the country.

Assad filed a lawsuit in Broward County against a rental car company as a result of the trunk incident, which was ultimately settled, according to court records. The "Montana" references came up in a November 2006 deposition Assad gave in that case - a statement he refused Wednesday to acknowledge as truthful because he did not sign it.
"It's possible not everything is accurate," Assad said.

Can you imagine Albert Levin's glee when he found out that government witness thought he was Scarface...

"Lawyers for Liberty City 7 having tough time"

That's the headline in today's Miami Herald article about the Liberty City 7 case. Not exactly the article you want if you are sitting at the defense table....

A couple of exchanges from the article between Ana Jhones (the lawyer for the lead defendant) and the informant:

"It's all about the money, isn't it?" Jhones asked aggressively.

"No, ma'am," Assad answered calmly. "There is a list, too."

"If I remember, I never promised him anything," he continued. "I only promised I would give the list to my big brother."

The FBI informant then lost touch with Batiste for one month.

Batiste and his followers in the local branch of the Moorish Science Temple -- a religion that combines Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths -- began to suspect that Assad was working undercover for law enforcement. They also had their doubts about the other FBI informant, al-Saidi.

In late January 2006, a few of Batiste's men met the two informants at the group's warehouse in Liberty City, changed their clothes and drove them to Islamorada.

There, inside a tent, Assad and al-Saidi met with Batiste in a tense confrontation. Assad salvaged the FBI's undercover probe when he blurted out to Batiste that he was a representative of al Qaeda, winning his trust again. Assad was allowed to keep his cellphone, which recorded the conversation.

"You're doing all the talking," Jhones told Assad on the witness stand.

The lawyer reiterated that Batiste said his group was "suffering" because it lacked money, suggesting he was only trying to con the informant for big bucks.

"He doesn't say he needs the money because he hates the United States," Jhones said on cross-examination.

But Assad fired back: "He says he needs the money to destroy the United States."

The informant only gave Batiste and his followers boots, supplied by the FBI. Assad later offered to provide them with a second warehouse in Miami, where they could plan their alleged terror mission.

Three Liberty City 7 jurors dismissed

From the Sun-Sentiel:

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard ruled after spending hours questioning jurors about a pamphlet on terrorism found in the jury room Monday. Miami police officers handed out the pamphlets last week at Metrorail stations, and the jurors who were dismissed said they had read or skimmed it.

One of the dismissed jurors said he considered it an "interesting coincidence" that he was handed a pamphlet about terrorism at the Government Center Metrorail Station as he made his way to court for a terrorism trial. The man said he brought the flier into the jury room after receiving it.

The pamphlet's cover features a police shield and the word "terrorism" in bold, capital letters. A police representative said the distribution, part of a program to alert the public to terrorist threats, was unrelated to the trial.

All but two of the 12 jurors and six alternates said they had seen a copy in the jury room and noticed it pertained to terrorism. To defense lawyers, that alone was enough to warrant a mistrial.

"To have that in the jury room in this type of trial, I think it's outrageous," said Roderick Vereen, who represents Stanley Phanor, 32.

Other defense lawyers weren't so happy with the jurors being dismissed:

Lawyers for every defendant but Batiste requested a mistrial based on the pamphlet, which includes a watch list of seven "signs of terrorism" and descriptions of deadly materials that could be used by terrorists.

Lenard denied the mistrial motions. However, she excused the three members of the jury panel who said they had read the brochure, explaining she was acting in "an abundance of caution."

Ana Jhones, who represents Batiste, protested Lenard's decision, saying her client had never complained about the pamphlet. "He is now faced with the consequences that he is not going to have the jury he has selected," she said.

Albert Levin, Abraham's attorney, and Joel DeFabio, Lemorin's attorney, also opposed dismissing the jurors.

Ah, the joys of trial. Crazy things always happen, don't they?