Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Rumor has it (UPDATED)

The nice thing about blogging is that we can post rumors as they come in (oh wait, the MSM does that too, see Golden Showers!).  We don't have anything like that, but we have it on a reliable source that the Trump administration has asked U.S. Attorney Willie Ferrer to resign. [UPDATE -- someone with knowledge of this has indicated that this rumor is false and that Willie has NOT been asked to resign.] If true, there should be a shakeup in that office in the near future.  There's also been quite a bit of speculation on what Mr. Ferrer will do next.  I'll leave that for him to say.

The shakeup locally and nationally will hopefully change the extreme position that the government frequently takes on bond.  For example, yesterday DOJ asked for the VW executive (who was arrested in Miami while on vacation with his family) to be held on pretrial detention.  From the DBR:
The defense team said they would like Schmidt to be held in a marshal-supervised hotel until a full bond hearing could be held in Michigan. They argued Schmidt had cooperated with the U.S. government by meeting with FBI agents of his own volition in London early in the investigation.
"He showed that he has absolutely nothing to hide from the government," Massey told the judge.
Massey also said Schmidt's arrest came as something of a surprise, because the government told Schmidt's attorneys as recently as Dec. 16 that he was only a "subject" and not a "target" of the investigation.
Singer insisted that Schmidt's meetings with U.S. officials were rife with deception. Schmidt traveled to the U.S. to meet with regulators in 2015 and deliberately hid the emissions test cheating from them, Singer said.
"It's actually, I think, a fact that weighs against him," he said.

Schmidt's local lawyer is one of the candidates for U.S. Attorney, John Couriel.  If John gets the gig, there may be some hope that he softens the office's very harsh position on bail.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Lots of press coverage for the shooter's initial apperance

There was a ton of press at the airport shooter's initial appearance yesterday.  "The judge told him the maximum penalty -- DEATH!"  "He was shackled!"  "The prosecution is seeking detention!"  So basically, like every other initial appearance, except that the maximum penalty in this case could be the death penalty.  In every initial appearance, the defendant is shackled and the judge reads the charges and the maximum penalties.  And in every case of serious violence, the prosecution seeks detention.

In any event, he's very lucky  that he will have the Federal Public Defender's Office representing him in this case.  It will be extremely interesting to see if the government actually seeks the death penalty.  You would think it wouldn't based on all of the reports of mental illness and that the FBI returned the gun to him.  But with the new AG Jeff Sessions, who knows.  Perhaps he will use this case to start off his administration with a new direction by trying to reinvigorate the federal death penalty. 

Meantime, it looks like law enforcement is leaking again, which has become a real problem in this District and around the country.  This time, it leaked awful videos to the press.  Here's coverage on the leak:
Local and federal authorities think they know who leaked security video of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shooting to TMZ.
Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief told CBS4 News that she’s doesn’t specifically know who leaked the video, but she’s fairly certain it was a member of law enforcement.
TMZ obtained the dramatic surveillance video of suspected mass murderer Esteban Santiago calmly pulling a gun from his waistband and shot 15 bullets at Terminal 2’s baggage claim at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday.
Five people were killed and even more were injured.
It’s video that Sharief said the public was never meant to see.
“We’re not tolerating this,” Sharief said. “This is an ongoing investigation. That tape shows a victim being shot and we don’t want that out on the street.”
Sharief said it appeared that the video released to TMZ was taken by someone recording the surveillance video with a cellphone.
She said a reflection captured on the cellphone recording might give away the person by identifying the law enforcement agency the person works for.
“We were able to clearly see the association or agency that the person was with and identify some other significant characteristics,” she said.
Sharief said the identity of the person who recorded the video and possibly leaked it isn’t known, but the county asked the FBI to investigate.
Sharief said after airport officials and the FBI enhanced the reflection, investigators were able to rule out airport and FBI personnel.
She said it “leaves BSO and a couple of other law enforcement agencies that were in that room.”



Sunday, January 08, 2017

Federal Criminal Complaint filed against Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooter, Esteban Santiago

The Feds have decided to bring this case, which may bring the death penalty.  Below is the Criminal Complaint. (It is not clear yet whether the State will also bring charges.)

The case will be prosecuted by Rick Del Toro with assistance from Department of Justice Trial Attorney Larry Schneider.  Esteban Santiago Ruiz will make his initial appearance on Monday at 11am before Magistrate Judge Alicia O. Valle in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Interestingly, Judge Valle used to be the press person for the U.S. Attorney's Office, so she will know how to handle the media, which will be packing her courtroom.  

If Ruiz and his family do not retain counsel, he will be appointed counsel, likely the Federal Public Defender's Office, which is well-equipped to handle a case like this. If the government seeks the death penalty (that decision will be made in D.C. by the new Attorney General), then learned counsel (a lawyer with death penalty experience) will be appointed to the trial team.  

The federal charges include: Title 18, United States Code, Section 37(a)(1), performing an act of violence against a person at an airport serving international civil aviation that caused serious bodily injury; Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A), using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and  Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(j), causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm in the course of a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). The statutory charges authorize a maximum penalty, upon conviction, of death or imprisonment for life or any term of years. 

According to the complaint, on January 6, 2017, Esteban Santiago Ruiz was present in the Terminal 2 baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when he pulled out a gun and started shooting until he was out of ammunition.  Santiago killed five people and wounded six more.  Moments later, Santiago was confronted by a BSO deputy.  He dropped his handgun on the ground and was arrested by BSO deputies.  According to the complaint, he then confessed after being read his Miranda rights.


Saturday, January 07, 2017

Magistrate position open in Ft. Pierce



From the website:

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of  a full-time United States magistrate judge for the Southern District of Florida at Fort Pierce.  The current annual salary for the magistrate judge position is $186,852 per year. The term of office is eight years.

A  full  public  notice  for the magistrate judge position is posted in the office  of  the clerk of the district court.   The notice is also available on the Courts website at: www.flsd.uscourts.gov

Interested  persons  may  contact  the  clerk  of  the  district  court for additional  information and application forms. The application form is also available on the Courts website www.flsd.uscourts.gov. Applications must be submitted only by applicants personally to; Flsd_magistratejudgerecruitment@flsd.uscourts.gov  and  must be received by February 6, 2017.

Wednesday, January 04, 2017

Will Judge Ursula Ungaro be the next U.S. Attorney?

https://files.ctctcdn.com/ec708238001/4dc8bff5-37ce-491a-bd01-618d8aa250c8.jpgThe rumors are swirling, and apparently many are pointing to Judge Ungaro as the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. (For a list of the other potential candidates, see here).  

I've received emails from numerous sources on this, so I reached out to Judge Ungaro for comment.  She said: "We have a fine U.S. Attorney and, to my knowledge, he has not resigned.  In the event he chooses to do so, and I hope he does not, the U.S. Attorney's position is extremely important, interesting and challenging, and whoever is appointed should have maturity, good judgment, and value the rule of law in the pursuit of justice."

Well, Judge Ungaro certainly has all of those characteristics.  I've had lots of cases before Judge Ungaro (both as a PD and in private practice) -- she is wickedly smart and is really fair (as an example, see the sentences she handed out in the Greer case).   She would whip that office into shape, that's for sure.