Rick Diaz nominated for lawyer of the year

The Wall Street Journal blog has posted its nominations for lawyer of the year. Sure, there's Alberto Gonzalez, Clarence Thomas, David Boies, Jon Keker, and Billy Martin. But you can also vote for our very own Rick Diaz! Check it out.

Defenders go to Liberia

Curt Anderson has this interesting story about the difficulties in investigating the Chuckie Taylor case -- the witnesses are scattered throughout Africa. Such problems raise the question about whether this sort of offense ought to be prosecuted in the United States. Here's the lead:

Witnesses are difficult or impossible to find, some moving to remote African villages accessible only by muddy roads rarely patrolled by police. Many who survived Liberia's bloody civil war and may have seen acts of torture are reluctant to talk to anyone about what happened, let alone a defense lawyer for the notorious son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
Then there are the language and cultural barriers. These and other problems have forced a delay until spring in the trial in Miami federal court of Taylor's son Charles McArthur Emmanuel or Chuckie Taylor, the first person to be prosecuted under a law making it a crime for a U.S. citizen to commit torture or war crimes overseas.

Initial thoughts on Liberty City mistrial

1. Why are people so mean? I can't believe how crude and stupid some comments are. It makes me want to shut down the Blog. Should I get rid of anonymous comments again?

2. Will the next trial be called Liberty City 6?

3. Will there be a next trial?

4. Joel Defabio, the lawyer for the one defendant who was acquitted, will be partying tonight. A lot.

5. The other defense lawyers certainly can claim victory but I'm sure they are dreading the prospect of trying this again. That said, they will be celebrating too.

I can't think of anything worse as a trial lawyer than having to retry a case, except sentencing of course. It sucks as much for the prosecution too. And it's probably the worst for the judge to have to sit through it again.

6. How will this case be compared to the Padilla trial? Other than being 'terror' trials, they really are nothing alike.

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

Hung

The liberty city 7 jury hung today as to 6 defendants and acquitted defendant Lemorin. A huge victory for the defense. More to follow.
--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Pictures

Here's Chief Judge Moreno at yesterday's luncheon. He looks pretty fired up in facing the camera:

And here's Justice Thomas at the Palm Beach Bar meeting. The picture was uploaded from this Sun-Sentinel article.

Chief Judge Moreno at the federal bar luncheon

It was a great and engaging lunch this afternoon with the Chief taking a variety of questions, from the new Supreme Court decisions on sentencing to the new federal courthouse to multi-district litigation.

Moreno explained that he didn't control when the new courthouse would open and there was no fixed date... The over on that January 1, 2008 looks pretty good right now. The new over/under line is January 1, 2009.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also spoke today to the Palm Beach Bar Association. Here's a report on that talk.

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.