Monday, August 20, 2007

On the road

I'm in the middle district today. Blogging to continue when I return.


--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Friday, August 17, 2007

"You don't have to be crazy to be a criminal defense lawyer in this town- but it helps!!!!"

Jack Blumenfeld, a long-time criminal defense lawyer in Miami, who has represented Jose Battle, Sr. and one of the "Cuban spies", emailed us last night regarding the Padilla verdict and how criminal defense lawyers suffer from disease where you convince yourself that you have a shot at a NG verdict in impossible cases. With permission, we reprint his email here:

If you want to talk to some lawyers to get an idea what the defense is going through, talk to [the Cuban Spy lawyers] about the effect on us when the Cuban Spy jury came back with guilty verdicts. We may have been the only 5 people in Dade County who thought that we could win a NG for Cuban spies in Miami- and that included the defendants, all 5 of whom knew what the outcome would be. I think judge Lenard saw the devastation on our faces, as she cleared the courtroom and had the doors locked, so we could partially recover. Ironically, the defendants were consoling the lawyers. I was in a daze for a week.

These people will go through the same thing. It happens when you ABSOLUTELY know you won the trial but lost the verdict. Cuban Spies- Alleged AQ members- and we all fought our hearts out for a NG- doesn't that make you feel great you chose criminal defense? You don't have to be crazy to be a criminal defense lawyer in this town- but it helps!!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Jose Padilla verdicts

Well, there will now be a bunch of articles from the MSM about the verdict (with the scripts depending on what side you're on).

Here is what I saw in the courtroom and my initial reaction:

1. Court security officers were insufferable. It was almost impossible to get into the courtroom. This is the biggest trial and verdict in the country right now and you can barely get in the courthouse! Silly.

2. The media is not permitted to have cell phones with them in the courtroom. After the verdicts were read, no one was allowed out of the courtroom for a couple minutes. I don't know how CNN and the AP got the articles up so quickly. It's a neat trick.

3. My cell phone crashed with all the people text messaging me and emailing me to post the verdicts. So my post was a couple minutes late, after my phone rebooted!

4. The defense lawyers' voices were all cracking as they asked for more time to file post-trial motions. I feel so bad for them right now. To put your life into a case for years and to have a 5 month trial and then to have the verdict so quickly is horrible. My heart goes out to these lawyers...

5. Sentencing is set for December 5. The defendants will be interviewed by the probation office, who will prepare a presentence investigation report for the judge. It will detail the defendants' history and the guideline ranges. Based on the verdicts, I believe the guideline range is life.

6. The appellate process. The defense has some interesting issues, which I will detail in another post. This will take time -- about a year after sentencing. We're looking at late 2008 or early 2009.

7. The government. Congratulations to the government lawyers. They fought hard and won and deserve credit for their victory. After the verdicts were read, they all shook hands and walked out of the courthouse through the back entrance to avoid the press. I'm sure DOJ will have a press conference later, but these trial lawyers deserve the credit.

8. Judge Cooke and her chambers. I'm sure they are thrilled to have this trial behind them. Oftentimes, we all forget how hard the court personnel work on these trials. Congrats to them. Go have a beer...

all defendants guilty on all counts

Padilla guilty on all counts.

In the courtroom

2:15
No verdict yet.
Buzz in the air.
Packed courtroom.
I was lucky to get in.
Stay tuned.
--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Liveblogging Padilla verdict

Check in at 2PM.

--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Padilla verdict in

To be announced at 2PM!!

--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Fair settlement?

$1.6 million to the attorneys; a pair of socks to the class members. Hmmmmm. Fair?

Mike Tein (of Lewis Tein) and a bunch of attorneys general say no way.

Judge Altonaga will hear the dispute in the Sharper Image Ion Purifier class action case today. Here's Julie Kay on the case.