Thursday, November 29, 2007

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.

What is the appropriate sentence for Jose Padilla?

Judge Cooke is tasked with sentencing Jose Padilla next week. The Government is asking for life. The defense is asking for something much less.

Should Padilla get credit for time served in the brig?
Should he get extra credit because of his treatment?
Should the judge consider the fact that Padilla will likely serve his time at the worst federal prison in America -- ADX Florence?

Here is Caruso on that last point -- from the defense memo:

"By the Bureau of Prisons own admission, ADX Florence is 'hell.' Surely the Court, in arriving at a just sentence for Mr. Padilla, should take into account that he will serve his sentence in hell."

Now that's powerful stuff.

Electing a public defender?

We haven't discussed the recent announcement by Bennett Brummer that he will be retiring and not seeking re-election next year as Miami's Public Defender. (Rumpole has been posting a bunch about it.)

What I find interesting about the state system is that Florida elects its public defenders. I think it's a bad idea to have elections for public defenders (and for judges).

First, how do people campaign for public defender? "I am a really good criminal defense lawyer and will free more criminal defendants than my opponent." I don't think that's going to be too successful.... They certainly can't run on the tough on crime platform. What if a prosecutor decides to run saying that if elected, he would assign the best defense attorneys to the few innocent clients and the rest will rightfully be convicted? Sounds ridiculous, but you see the point.

The federal system has it right -- the public defender should be appointed, based on merit. See, e.g., Kathy Williams.

Luckily, we have had a great Miami PD for the past 30 years in Brummer. It will be interesting to see how this election plays out.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wellington businessman Dan Miteff pleads guilty....

...in the middle of trial.

More here from the Sun-Sentinel:

In a stunning turn, Wellington businessman Dan Miteff changed his plea to guilty this morning at the beginning of the third day of this criminal fraud trial.Miteff entered the courtroom at the U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach late looking ashen and distraught. Then, after conferring with his attorney, Chris Grillo, Miteff told Judge Kenneth Ryskamp, "I plead guilty."Miteff, 56, faced 20 counts in connection with a conspiracy with former County Commissioner Tony Masilotti to purchase 49 acres of land from Archdiocese of Palm Beach County in Royal Palm Beach.

Monday, November 26, 2007

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

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Back to work

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.... Updates on the district:

1. The Liberty City 7 case is slowly coming to a close -- closing arguments should start at the end of this week. Jay Weaver had a story in the Herald this weekend about the case.

2. Chief Judge Federico Moreno will be speaking at the federal bar luncheon on December 12 (CORRECTED) at noon at the Banker's club. Last month's event with Judges Barkett and Marcus sold out and was really fun. If you are interested in attending, RSVP soon.

3. The South Asian Bar Association is hosting a complimentary wine and cheese night on Wednesday, December 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with Saira Rao, author of the Chambermaid, the controversial and entertaining debut novel. The event will take place at SolAmbit's new office located at 700 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301. For more information on the author and the book, please visit http://srv.markuslaw.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sairarao.com/.

4. Judge Cooke denied the post-trial motions in the Padilla case, which means the sentencing (and appeal) will proceed. Vanessa Blum has more here.

5. I found this article really interesting about Judge Paul Cassell leaving the district court bench to go back to being a law professor:

Cassell said he found himself questioning some laws at each turn. "I felt like it was proper judicial role to ask questions, even if we weren't necessarily charged with fixing the problem," he said. But he wanted to do more — he wanted to make a change. Being a federal judge, he couldn't do that. "One of the frustrations about being a trial court judge is that you never set broad principles of law; of course, that's reserved for the appellate courts. ... When I was there for 5 1/2 years, I began to think that maybe I would have more effect in moving the law in a way that I think is desirable by doing appellate litigation."

There aren't too many more powerful positions than a federal judge, yet Cassell was "frustrated" he couldn't do more. He has a lot more to say, including his position on draconian federal sentences... It's worth a read.

(HT: Orin Kerr and Doug Berman)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Judge Jordan dismisses Jack Thompson's lawsuit

We covered all the back and forth earlier, so here's the conclusion -- case dismissed in a 24 page order. Of course, GamePolitics has all the details...

And yes, Thompson has already filed an emergency appeal.

Rumpole vs. Mayo

Rumpole is fired up -- he goes to town on Sun-Sentinel columnist Mike Mayo here for his coverage of the Ken Jenne sentencing. (I'm a Mike Mayo fan and generally agree with him, but I agree with Rumpole on this one. What's going on this week -- I'm agreeing with Fred Grimm and Rumpole, and disagreeing with Mike Mayo...)

Here's a snippet:

Judge D did just what we want a Judge to do in a sentencing hearing: he weighed the defendant’s entire life against his admitted crimes. Judge D saw beyond the public’s cry for blood lust and vengeance and he fashioned a sentence that punished Mr. Jenne but was proportionate to his crime. Mr. Jenne served the public for over 30 years, and for the most part he served the public well. He left a lucrative law practice for public service, and along the way he made mistakes and lapses of judgment that became crimes. Jenne damn well should have known better, and for that reason the former Sheriff of Broward County sits in jail cell as you are reading this. That along with the public humiliation, probable disbarment, possible loss of pension, and financial burdens now thrust upon Mr. Jenne’s 60 year old wife are sufficient punishment for this man.

But Mr. Mayo cannot (or more likely ,chooses not) to see that the justice system does not exist merely for the judge to be a human calculator in which he or she totals the high possible sentence and then imposes that sentence. We have had (and currently have) our share of those Judges in Miami State court, and none of those Judges are especially admired for their acumen, insight and legal decisions.

In Mayo’s world, every time a judge does not arrive at the maximum sentence, especially for a public figure, it means the justice system is broken and served by a bunch of liberal “turn em loose” Judges who with a wink and a nod let their politician pals loose. That type of column catches the eye of the public, not to mention Hollywood, but it does a disservice to the readers of the Sun Sentinel and the citizens of Broward.

There's a lot more... Go read it.