"The politics of fear"

That was Anthony Natale's theme in opening for Jose Padilla.

"Political crises can cause parts of our government to overreach. This is one of those times," he said. Natale said Padilla wanted to become an imam — an Islamic religious leader — and asked him to stand for the jury to see. "He's a young man who has been wrongly accused," Natale said.

Again, Curt Anderson got on the board first with this coverage. I'm sure there will be a lot more.....

"Jose Padilla was an al-Qaida terrorist trainee providing the ultimate form of material support - himself,"

That was Brian Frazier in opening statement. Frazier continued: "Padilla was serious, he was focused, he was secretive. Padilla had cut himself off from most things in his life that did not concern his radical view of the Islamic religion."

Curt Anderson, for the AP, has the first report from today's proceedings...

Padilla's lawyers haven't countered yet. More to follow.

Congrats to our new Magistrate

A (reliable) little birdie told me that Robin Rosenbaum is our new Ft. Lauderdale Magistrate Judge. Congratulations!

Computer issues

My computer at the office is down as is my server.

This will teach me to go away for the weekend (even if it was for a conference!).

I did manage to get up two posts this morning before everything crashed. Now I'm on the computer of someone down the hall who hasn't made it in to work yet. You know who you are...

In any event, there is a bunch of weekend stuff to catch up on, but it will have to wait until the afternoon. Plus, I'm going to try and make it over to see some openings in Padilla. Will check in later.

Jose Padilla opening statements

Jose Padilla opening statements are today. There is a buzz in the legal community over the case, but I wonder if the general public has the same interest. You would think everyone would be following this trial, but I get the sense that it's a case of a lot of interest to us, but only of moderate interest to everyone else...

In any event, there are a zillion articles about the start of the case. Here's one by Vanessa Blum about Judge Marcia Cooke. (And here's a brief bio) Here's our initial coverage of Judge Cooke.

Good luck to the lawyers today. I'm sure everyone has those trial jitters, especially in this case.

My new favorite reporter...

... is Tonya Alanez from the Sun-Sentinel (whom I've never met or spoken to) because she had this to say about our blog in this article about the Broward Blog controversy:

South Florida has two other court-oriented blogs.On the Southern District of Florida Blog, Miami-based attorney David Oscar Markus strikes an even-handed, statesman-like tone and tends toward observation rather than critique. The Justice Building Blog, authored by another Miami-based attorney who posts anonymously, cloaks its jabs with humor.

COOL!

UPDATE -- The Miami Herald also did a report on the Broward Blog (by Jennifer Lebovich) and mentioned us.

Padilla and Wilk

What a fun time to be a trial lawyer in the Southern District of Florida. I know I sound like a broken record, but we have the best trials and cases in the country.

Jay Weaver has a great article about the jury selection in the Jose Padilla case. Rising star Dore Louis took on the Government: "Early in the process, one of Jayyousi's attorneys, Marshall Dore Louis, accused the prosecution of striking four candidates with Muslim connections and one who was Muslim herself. I believe they have shown a pattern of bias against people who know Muslims or are Muslims." John Shipley responded, "It is completely untrue. There is no pattern whatsoever."

The Government then complained that the defense was striking Hispanic jurors. At the end of the day, Judge Cooke found that neither side was using their strikes in a discriminatory fashion. Everyone in the courtroom applauded when the jury was finally seated. On to trial!

Kenneth Wilk took the stand in his own defense! "He didn't discuss AIDS dementia, a key part of his defense. He immediately admitted he fired his gun but said he thought the people in his Fort Lauderdale home, Deputy Todd Fatta and Lt. Angelo Cedeño, were intruders, not police. He also said he tried to perform first aid on Fatta, the man he is accused of murdering."

Who's call was it to testify:

Outside of court, Wilk's attorneys, Matthewman and J. Rafael Rodriguez, wouldn't comment on Wilk's desire to testify. "We're just honoring his request," Rodriguez said.When U.S. District Judge James Cohn asked Wilk if he discussed the decision with his lawyers, Wilk replied: "There's been tremendous conversation back and forth. ... And this is something I have to do and, uh, it's my decision and mine alone and I stand by it."

Jose Padilla update

1. A jury has been selected!
2. Opening statements are to begin Monday.
3. The jury consists of five blacks, four whites and three Hispanics; seven men and five women.
4. On the panel are an executive in a software firm, a makeup artist, and the manager of several gas stations.
5. The CBS reporter was not held in contempt.
6. The judge has yet to rule on a severance motion that could impact whether Padilla is tried with the other two defendants. It was still being argued today.

AP coverage by Curt Anderson here and here.
Vanessa Blum here.