If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Well maybe, if that tree is DOJ... Here's DOJ saying the fraud guidelines need to be updated (from Main Justice). Federal judges were also piping in, with one calling the loss guidelines "a crock."

I'm sure the DOJ officials at this conference weren't staying in the forest though; they were probably staying at the Ritz. Kosher Meatball Blog (I still don't get the name) has more on this OIG report entitled "A Review of U.S. Attorney Travel that Exceeded the Government Lodging Rate." It's not pretty.

Miami Herald cites SDFLA and SFLawyers!

Pretty cool. Meantime, I can't get the CHiPs theme song out of my head.

Over the weekend, Jay Weaver profiled Eric Bustillo, the SEC chief. It's a nice piece. Here's the intro:

A product of Jesuit schools in Latin America, Eric Bustillo entered Tulane University in fall 1981.
Within months, his bright future would take a dark turn: He and his friends were returning to the New Orleans campus one night when their car swerved to avoid another and slammed into a tree. Bustillo's spinal cord was severed, leaving him paralyzed.
Today, as he sits in a wheelchair in his corner office overlooking Biscayne Bay, Bustillo displays only optimism. A lawyer for more than 20 years, he is director of the Miami regional office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in charge of protecting investors in a region riddled with fraud, from old-fashioned boiler rooms to newfangled Ponzi schemes.
``I could have wallowed in my misfortune, or worked hard, educated myself and not let it become an obstacle,'' said Bustillo, 45, born in New Jersey to Cuban exile parents who moved the family around to Venezuela, Panama and other countries.

Looks like Ponch is going to have a few solo missions on the California Highway Patrol for awhile

SFLawyers previously covered Larry Wilcox's (Jon Baker in CHiPs) case here. He actually pleaded guilty before Judge Cohn today. Here's the actual plea agreement. He's obviously cooperating in this securities fraud case and his sentence is capped at 5 years. He agreed to all of the enhancements in his agreement for a one month conspiracy in 2009, including amount of loss, abuse of trust, sophisticated means, officer/director, and he agreed not to ask for a variance or appeal. So, he will have to hope the government goes to bat for him on his cooperation. If not, he's looking at 2 years by my count.

Friday

Finally, some good cool weather.

Justice Stevens gave this cool speech -- and he uses trilogies too:

Today I plan to say a few words about memorials, mosques, and monuments. Like Lieutenant Ichikawa, who is being honored today, I served in the Pacific theater during World War II. The Empire of Japan was our principle enemy in that theatre. Lieutenant Ichikawa, like literally thousands of other patriotic Japanese Americans including residents of Hawai'i as well as residents of the Mainland -made a magnificent contribution to our war effort there.

In other news:
Gary Kravitz, Murray Greenberg, and Nathaniel Persily of Columbia Law School, along with the St. Thomas Law Review have put together a symposium next weekend (November 12-13, 2010) entitled Bush v. Gore: A DecadeLater. Panelists inclue Greenberg, Persily, Ben Ginsberg, Kendall Coffey, Ben Kuehne, Joe Klock, Jim Bopp, Justice Fred Lewis, Judge Nikki Clark, Jeff Erlich, Paul Hancock, Kim Tucker and an academic panel including Jim Gibson, Nelson Lund and Edward Foley.

This event will be held at St. Thomas and admission is free. The symposium has been approved for a maximum of 7 CLE credits.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Friday, November 12, 2010

Welcoming Remarks 4:00-4:15 p.m.

The View from the Litigants 4:15-5:45 p.m.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Continental Breakfast 8:30-9:00 a.m.

The View from the Administrators 9:00-10:30 a.m.

The View from the Bench 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Luncheon Panel-
The View from Academia 12:15-2:00 p.m.

Closing Remarks 2:00-2:15 p.m.

Registration is required prior to November 10, 2010. Please contact the Law Review Office at lawrev@stu.edu or phone (305) 623-2380.

St. Thomas Law Review
St. Thomas University School of Law
16401 NW 37th Avenue
Miami Gardens, FL 33054

Happy Halloween

This press release found its way to my inbox: DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH IMPORTING CANDY LACED WITH COCAINE ON FLIGHT TO FORT LAUDERDALE.

Well, I had to read more:

According to the criminal complaint, on November 1, 2010, Perez arrived into Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport on a flight from Bogota, Colombia. Perez proceeded to the CBP enclosure and presented himself and his luggage to CBP officers for inspection and entry into the United States. Within the luggage claimed by Perez, there were multiple paper shopping bags containing different articles of clothing. In addition, Perez claimed bags containing various types of candies. CBP discovered that the bottom of these bags contained cocaine. Upon this discovery, CBP gave closer inspection to the bags of candy claimed by Perez. CBP field-tested one of each type of candy and found that each type of candy field tested positive for cocaine. In total, CBP determined that Perez was in possession of approximately 9.6 kilograms of cocaine. Subsequently, ICE special agents arrested Torres Perez on the federal criminal charges.

Yikes, that's a lot of candy!