The next time the 80-year-old retired chemistry professor takes his protest to the plaza outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan, he may make it home without being locked up.Well said. Well done Judge Wood. The only thing better would have been a jury finding him not guilty....
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the dismissal of an indictment against the professor, Julian P. Heicklen, who had been charged with jury tampering for advocating the controversial position known as jury nullification while outside the courthouse.Mr. Heicklen had repeatedly stood with a “Jury Info” sign and handed out brochures supporting nullification, the view that jurors who disagree with a law may ignore their oaths and vote to acquit a defendant accused of violating it.Prosecutors said such advocacy, “directed as it is to jurors, would be both criminal and without constitutional protections no matter where it occurred.”But the judge, Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court, wrote that a person violated the jury tampering statute only when he or she knowingly tried to influence a juror’s decision through a written communication “made in relation to a specific case pending before that juror.”Judge Wood added that she would not “stretch the interpretation” of the statute to cover speech that was “not meant to influence” a juror’s actions in a specific case.Mr. Heicklen expressed pleasure at the ruling. “Not just for me,” he said. “I think it’s a major decision for the country.”He added: “This is better than having them throw me in jail.”
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Friday, April 20, 2012
Jury nullification case dismissed
I just love that this guy -- fighting for his right to tell potential jurors to say not guilty -- was pro-se and won. It really bothered me that the government charged him with a federal crime for protected speech. From the Times:
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday news and notes
1. Congrats to Todd Scher who obtained a new trial for his death-row client before Judge Seitz. From the NY Times:
These days, Mr. Holland is represented by Todd G. Scher, a Miami Beach lawyer who won in the Supreme Court and persuaded Judge Seitz to order a new trial. A spokesman for the Florida attorney general’s office said prosecutors would ask Judge Seitz to reconsider her ruling.Mr. Scher said he did not know who would represent Mr. Holland at a retrial. For now, he said, what was clear was that a federal judge had found “a blatant Sixth Amendment violation.”“It shows that he was right,” Mr. Scher said of his client. “He had concerns about his prior series of lawyer, and his concerns turned out to be valid.”
2. Fitzroy Salesman was in the 11th Circuit yesterday, and represented by all-around good person Ashley Litwin. From the Sun-Sentinel:
Ashley Litwin, Salesman's appeals lawyer, told the judges on Tuesday that Salesman had acted like an NBA star on suspension from his team contract who worked on a beer commercial but wasn't paid for it until after he returned to the team.Really? In Miami, I think sports figures are held to a higher standard...
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol Herman said the analogy wasn't a good one "because elected officials are held to a higher standard than sports figures."
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Oh man, this is really bad
Check out this report by the Washington Post:
Justice Department officials have known for years that flawed forensic work might have led to the convictions of potentially innocent people nationwide, but prosecutors failed to notify defendants or their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled.Now what? Read the whole piece; it's long but worth your time.
Officials started reviewing the cases in the 1990s after reports that sloppy work by examiners at the FBI lab was producing unreliable forensic evidence in court trials. Instead of releasing those findings, they made them available only to the prosecutors in the affected cases, according to documents and interviews with dozens of officials.
In addition, the Justice Department reviewed only a limited number of cases and focused on the work of one scientist at the FBI lab, despite warnings that problems were far more widespread and could affect potentially thousands of cases in federal, state and local courts.
As a result, hundreds of defendants remain in prison or on parole for crimes that might merit exoneration, a retrial or a retesting of evidence using DNA because FBI hair and fiber experts may have misidentified them as suspects.
Monday, April 16, 2012
"Which office do I go to get my reputation back?
That was Ray Donovan after he was acquitted. I was reminded of that quote while posting the Bar letter to Lewis & Tein in the post below, which "regrets any confusion" that was created by saying that the two lawyers were being investigated for perjury or the motion to recuse. Turns out that the Bar isn't investigating any such thing and is instead merely "monitor[ing] the underlying civil proceedings." Which office do they go to to get their reputations back?
There's been an awful lot of schadenfreude going around town lately. Remember Alan Shore's closing argument in Boston Legal:
Guy and Mike are good, aggressive lawyers, and people don't like that. The Florida Bar's letter today proves they don't deserve the press they've been getting.
There's been an awful lot of schadenfreude going around town lately. Remember Alan Shore's closing argument in Boston Legal:
Shadenfreude. From the German words, Schaden and Freude, damage and joy. It means to take spiteful, malicious delight in the misfortune of others. We used to dismiss this as simply an ugly side of human nature, but it is much much more than that. Recently a Stanford professor actually captured Schadenfreude on a brain scan. It’s a physiological medical phenomenon. When we see others fall it sometimes causes a chemical to be released in the dorsal striatum of the brain which actually causes us to feel pleasure. If you watch the news or read the papers, which of course you don’t because the Judge said not to, but if you did, you would see the undeniable delicious joy of the media and the public over Kelly Nolan’s plight. I have no doubt that you want Kelly Nolan to be punished. She married for money, she had an affair, she carried on naked in the pool with her boyfriend. She’s cold, materialistic, unlikable, and it might bring you all pleasure to see her go to jail. But as for evidence to establish that she committed a murder beyond all reasonable doubt? It just isn’t there. The only possible route to a guilty verdict here is Schadenfreude.
Guy and Mike are good, aggressive lawyers, and people don't like that. The Florida Bar's letter today proves they don't deserve the press they've been getting.
Why one shouldn't rush to judgment....
... even when it's reported in the newspaper. Lots of people in town have been quick to jump on the Lewis/Tein bar investigation. Problem is that it was misreported. Here's the Florida Bar letter from today, apologizing:
UPDATE -- The Herald issued this correction today. They were given the bad information by the Bar:
April 16, 2012Mr. Guy A. LewisMr. Michael Ross TeinLewis Tein PL3059 Grand Avenue, Suite 340Coconut Grove, FL 33133-5166Re: Complaint by The Florida Bar against Michael Ross TeinThe Florida Bar File No. 2012-70,334(11G)Complaint by The Florida Bar Bar against Guy A. LewisThe Florida Bar File No. 2012-70,335(11G)Dear Mr. Lewis and Mr. Tein:Newspapers recently reported information pertaining to your representation of Tammy Gwen Billie and Jimmy Bert, some of which was attributed to The Florida Bar and some of which was not accurate. Pursuant to our discussions, please be advised as follows:
1. The Florida Bar does not now nor did it previously have an investigation pertaining to your Motion to Recuse Judge Dresnick, as was previously reported.
2. The matter which is pending at Grievance Committee pertains only to Judge Dresnick's $3500 sanctions order and not to “perjury” or any other issue or allegation, as was previously reported.
3. As discussed, the Florida Bar continues to monitor the underlying civil proceedings.
The Bar regrets any confusion caused by the recent news reports.Sincerely,ARLENE KALISH SANKELChief Branch Discipline Counselcc: Mr. Kendall B. Coffey, Esq.
Because of incorrect information provided by the Florida Bar, a story in Friday's Metro section gave an inaccurate account of the Bar’s investigation into Miami lawyers Guy Lewis and Michael Tein. The Bar is not investigating the lawyers for their assertion — in a recusal motion involving their clients, two Miccosukee Indians — that Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ronald Dresnick was biased against Native Americans. The story also mischaracterized the status of two other related allegations. The Bar’s grievance committee is investigating Lewis and Tein’s failure to turn over financial records of their clients. The Bar’s staff is monitoring the lawyers’ assertions regarding the source of their clients’ payments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)