Looking for part-time blogger!

I am trial, probably for the next 4-5 weeks. (Details here). Anyone interesting in helping out while I'm busy?

''He said if I blamed it on him, he was going to turn it around on me."

That was Guillermo Zarabozo, the Joe Cool defendant, testifying on Friday. Here's a snippet of the Herald article:

''I told them what he told me to say,'' Zarabozo testified at the murder retrial in federal court in Miami. ``It was the biggest mistake of my life. I lied. That's why I'm here.''
Zarabozo, testifying after the government rested its case, admitted that he and Archer lied that Cuban ''pirates'' had hijacked the boat on their chartered one-way trip to Bimini and then killed the crew. Zarabozo is charged with 16 counts of conspiracy, hijacking, kidnapping, murder, robbery and use of a firearm in commission of those crimes.
Archer, 36, pleaded guilty before the first federal trial in September and was sentenced to life in prison -- Zarabozo's fate if he is convicted of any of the offenses.
Prosecutors will return on Tuesday to cross examine Zarabozo. It is expected to be an intense confrontation. They have argued that Zarabozo has been lying about his role in the murders.
But rather than try to prove conclusively that Zarabozo fatally shot the crew, prosecutors have unveiled newly discovered evidence showing that he and Archer plotted for months to hijack the chartered vessel to Cuba. The evidence supports the conspiracy charge and refutes Zarabozo's claim that he thought the boat was a charter to Bimini.

Breaking -- Judge Cooke dismisses case against Ben Kuehne's co-defendant for Speedy Trial violation

In a 13-page Order, Judge Cooke has dismissed the case against Gloria Florez Velez, the lead defendant in the Ben Kuehne case for a violation of her speedy trial rights. Henry Bell represents Ms. Velez. More to follow...

To Tase or not to Tase

That's the video from Buckley v. Rackard, 292 Fed. Appx. 791 (11th Cir. Sept. 9, 2008). The ACLU is asking for the Supreme Court to take cert. Here is their press release.

Racial issues come up during jury selection in Liberty City trial

The defense is arguing that the prosecutors are striking all the African-American jurors. The prosecution is arguing that the defense is striking all the Hispanic males. Both sides are giving race-neutral reasons for their strikes. Judge Lenard has halted jury selection and has asked for briefs by Tuesday.

Written Testimony

For those that are interested, here is my written testimony to the Sentencing Commission.

Sentencing Commission testimony

I had the pleasure today to testify before the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding the 25 year anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act. Here's the agenda of speakers at the regional hearing, and here's an article from the local paper previewing the hearings.

It was pretty interesting. I provided both written testimony (which I will post when I'm back in Miami tonight) and oral testimony, after which I (and the other panelists) answered their questions.

I am in the Atlanta airport now trying to get home, but I will post more about the day later.

La Bamba and owner guilty

Here's the Herald article. Judge Lenard must be breathing a small sigh of relief that she at least got a verdict on the two lead defendants in the case. The jury was out over two weeks and she was in the middle of starting trial #3 in Liberty City 7. But there weren't verdicts across the board -- the jury hung on two of the defendants, after lengthy and heated deliberations. Apparently the jury foreman resigned as foreman during the deliberations... What's in the water in that jury room? Will the government retry the two hung defendants?