TURKEYS

BEN KUEHNE CASE DISMISSED!!!

Blogger David O Markus has just broke the story that the case against our friend, colleague, and one hell of a lawyer- Ben Kuehne, and his co-defendant has been dismissed by the Feds.

What a fantastic Thanksgiving for Ben.

Shame on the Feds for dragging Ben's good name through the mud! Sorry David, but Ben gets our next 10 federal conflicts.

Update: Go to David's blog to read the gracious and classy statement by Ben Kuehne.

Several careful readers have inquired whether Rumpole will be handing out annual "Turkey" awards.

From the prolific if pointed prose emanating from our Robed Readers' emails to lawyers North Of the Border who steal and pay off hired thugs from the Broward Sheriffs Office, the South Florida legal landscape has its normal collection of ripe targets, including Assistant US Attorneys who not only lose trials, but put their legal licenses in jeopardy along the way.

Have at it. The best nominations get on the front page.

WSJ AND KUEHNE

The Wall Street Journal has closely covered the Ben Kuehne case.  The title of the post links to the article. 

Today is a travel day (for a case, not for the holidays)  so I will blog when the airport has a connection and I'm not sitting on a plane.  Anybody trying a case this week?

We used to say that walking into one particular Judge's courtroom was an affirmation of  Einstein's special relativity, because time in fact slowed down considerably.  You will remember that one of the consequences of special relativity is that the duration of  the time interval between two events can be different for individual observers. That Judge has since passed on,  so we refrain from mentioning his name. However, while we're on the subject of cosmology, here is an interesting article on dark matter.  Dark matter is NOT those items contained in the paragraphs of your client's federal Pre-Sentence Investigation report before the paragraph on the guidelines calculations.  Dark matter is that matter that is not visible that may make up a quarter of the universe.  The existence of dark matter has yet to be concretely proved, so this article is exciting.   (It's amazing the things one finds interesting in an airport at 5am). 

See You In Court as soon as I get home. 

BENSON WEINTRAUB ON BEN KUEHNE

UPDATE:  A NATIONAL BLOG IS REPORTING THAT JUDGE COOKE HAS THE MOTION TO DISMISS IN KUEHNE'S CASE SET FOR NOVEMBER 25TH. THAT WOULD BE NEXT TUESDAY. CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THIS? OUR FAVOURITE FEDERAL BLOGGER WROTE AN AMICUS BRIEF FOR THE NACDL ON THE MOTION TO DISMISS

We received this as a comment and it bears repeating on the front of the blog. The following is from Benson Weintraub, and is reprinted in its entirety. 

Ben Kuehne Had No Motive Or Financial Incentive To Launder Money For Ochoa’s Attorney’s And Exclusive Beneficiaries, Especially Roy Black

By Benson Weintraub, Esquire, Fort Lauderdale February 14, 2008

Ben Kuehne was my law partner for 5+ years during the 1980'-1990's (Sonnett…Kuehne) and he mentored me since 1983 when I served as his 'associate' at the predecessor firm, Bierman, Sonnett, Shohat et. al.

I served as a full-time Visiting Professor of Law in 2005, after which I resumed private practice, now largely in the corporate compliance field (invariably circuitous to white collar criminal defense representation, particularly in the health care industry.).

Ben Kuehne is clearly a 'lawyer's lawyer' who instilled in me the highest appreciation of academic excellence in the practice of federal law. More critically, Ben sensitized me to the distinct ethical dilemmas presented institutionally to criminal defense counsel and ALWAYS taught me (AND CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCES THE NEED) to uphold and exceed our profession's highest ethical/legal standards.

Practicing criminal law in the federal courts places these dedicated, tenacious professionals in legal jeopardy merely by discharging their duties oaths, and obligations to the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution, coextensively with duties to the courts and clients.

Ben successfully represented me before the Magluta grand jury in which each of his primary attorneys' fees, including those of Roy Black and Marty Weinberg, were also scrutinized (Weinberg was later disqualified from representing Magluta at trial in 99-583-Cr-Seitz). I don't recall whether Richard Strafer, the appeals lawyer, was called to that grand jury, but he, too, was routinely involved in Magluta's representation on appellate matters. Parenthetically, as an academic expert in money laundering, I prudently consulted him regarding propriety of accepting legal fees pre-dating his involvement in the Magluta/Falcon case.

Black, again, came out unscathed while other lawyers, including myself, were named as unindicted coconspirators for disclosing, with 11th hour client consent, but otherwise prepared to go jail for contempt), a $50,000 check from a third party) or plead guilty to violating a restraining order against the transfer of assets by the defendants, while Black and Weinberg walked away with fees approaching $10 million. The Miami Herald estimated that the aggregation of attorney fees and litigation costs exceeded $26 million, not to mention more than $500,000 imputed to the juror(s) for allegedly being bribed in the first case resulting in their acquittal.

Weinberg and Black were summoned to the US Attorney or grand jury too. What, if any implications can one draw from BLACK AND WEINBERG’S immunity from the type of prosecution for which Kuehne is now charged? Did they cooperate then? Did they cooperate against their client, lawyers, or retained counsel now? Did they set up Kuehne to take ‘their’ fall?

From these experiences and the overlap of identity of lawyers in the Ochoa case, I simply don't understand, knowing that Ben is clearly the least avaricious attorney I know, and based on his uncompromomising adherance to the to the law and the highest ethical standards, that he would intentionally commit money laundering, all the more so because he was not the beneficiary and was compensated proportionally and appropriately for a significant foreign financial investigation.

Kuehne and his Columbian accountant and local assistants personally checked official public Colombian government and financial records [is it possible that the corrupt national and provincial governments in Colombia manipulated "official" public records on which BPK relied?] to make an informed, deliberated, unbiased and independent conclusion as a Certified Fraud Examiner and premier lawyer extraordinaire.

Kuehne had no interest vested in the outcome of his conclusions and was entirely detached from the defendant's actual representation. His investigative role was minor in relation to the private investigation undertaken for the accused by Black’s PI's; Kuehne's objective investigation was limited temporally by the sole question presented; and the attorneys providing the representation, unlike Kuehne, were the only parties with an interest, financial or otherwise, in a dispositive [independent] conclusion by Kuehne.

That Black and Weinberg emerged unscathed from the Magluta investigation and took away from that experience the need to be more meticulous in accepting fees of potentially suspect origin, and it's recurrence in the Ochoa case is commendable.

But The Herald’s article published Feb. 7-8, 2008 states: "Ironically, the investigation first focused on Black... [B]ut authorities dropped their interest in Black and shifted to Kuehne, who became the target because his buffer-like role insulated Ochoa's defense attorney [Black] from any criminal liability for accepting the fees." Miami Herald (Internet ed. 2/7/2008)(emphasis added). Jay Weaver’s observation in this respect speaks volumes in terms of motive/benefit and accurately capsulizes the essence of this tragic episode in Kuehne's otherwise unblemished career.

This makes no sense and suggests the unspoken implication of Kuehne's status as a 'sacrifical lamb' without the motive or financial interest common to other lawyers who were plainly significant beneficiaries of otherwise prudent fee-paying conduct now alleged by the government to have been criminalized.

Kuehne, if retained by the defendant's attorneys to be a "buffer" to "insulate[ ]" them (and hoping for a pro forma favorable conclusion, hired the wrong lawyer) and if true, Black’s conduct would itself be appalling.

Finally, what about the latest revelations that Kuehne's codefendant was an undercover cooperator--seeking to unsuccessfully set up Kuehne in return for 5K1.1 or Rule 35 in S.D.N.Y --- in a Justice Dept. reverse sting. Could this be the AG's US Attorney Scandal Redux or Bush's retribution for Kuene's tenacious representation, with the pre-eminenet lawyer, David Boies, Esq. in Al Gore's representation contesting grand theft of the 2000 election?

BEN KUEHNE FUND RAISER ON THURSDAY

Update: Tomorrow we will have the unofficial-official list of Judicial Rotation for the new year. We left the Ben Kuehne fundraiser up because it's a worthy cause and everyone should go tonight. 

Thursday Night Football: The Steelers are 10.5 point favorites over the Bengals. The Steelers beat up the Bengals in Cincinnati by more than 20 points earlier in the year. And yet the Bengals played the Eagles to a tie last week and the Eagles beat the Steelers earlier this year. What does that tell you? Nothing. We picked the Steelers twice this year and lost both bets. The O/U is  between 34-36 because of the weak Steeler Offense. The Steelers are due for an offensive breakout and the Bengals defense is nothing to be too afraid of. We'd leave this one alone. If you can get 34 take the over. For fun we'll say over 36 for 50. 

Beloved attorney Milton Ferrell has passed away. See below. 

A fund raiser for Miami Criminal defense lawyer Ben Kuehne, co-chaired by former Florida Supreme Court Justice (and former Miami Circuit Court Judge) Gerald Kogan and Miami super lawyer Bob Josefsberg will be held Thursday from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM in Coconut Grove at some establishment called CHRISTABELLE"S QUARTER at 3157 Commodore Plaza.  

(click on the link for more info)

The suggested donation is $200.00, which is a mere pittance for those of you following our Sunday football picks (thanks to the over Monday night for bailing us out of a horrible week.)

 Ben is scheduled for trial in January, which will be a little more than a year from when he was indicted.  Ben has had to deal with this mess hanging over his head for a year. And when you read the indictment you come away thinking that the government's zealous overreaching actions could target anyone of us.  

Among the committee members helping sponsor and support this event are Albert Krieger,  Former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Former Southern District US Attorney Kendall Coffey and Former Florida Bar Presidents Frank Angones and Hank Coxe. And of course, we would be remiss if we didn't also include everyone's favourite federal blogger, David Markus. 

This will be quite an event and it's for a very worthy cause. 

MILTON FERRELL.

Miami lost a "quiet giant" in the Miami legal community this week with the death of attorney Milton Ferrell.  Mr. Ferrell emerged from the Dade SAO to become a confident of , and counselor to, Potential Presidents and Potentates. Read the wonderful Herald coverage about this extraordinary gentleman here. 

FACDL RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF BEN KUEHNE

RESOLUTION
OF THE FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
IN SUPPORT OF BENEDICT P. KUEHNE

WHEREAS, Benedict (Ben) Kuehne has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1977 and is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Criminal Trial, Criminal Appellate, and Civil Appellate Law;

WHEREAS, in addition to his leadership as a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors, President of both the Dade County Bar Association and Miami Chapter of FACDL, Ben Kuehne is a Charter Member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL), dating back twenty years to 1988;

WHEREAS Ben Kuehne is a trusted advisor to those he has served with in FACDL, and always made himself available to better the organization on issues of by-laws, ethics, and other legal matters;

WHEREAS, Ben Kuehne has contributed as an author to FACDL’s Defender magazine on issues of the Fourth Amendment, and the United States Supreme Court;

WHEREAS, Ben Kuehne has routinely been recognized for his legal talents and contributions to the legal profession and specifically the criminal justice system, including but not limited to his recognition as one of the “Lawyers of the Year” by the National Law Journal in 2000;

AND WHEREAS Ben Kuehne is currently seeking justice in his own defense and is deserving of the same support, counsel and assistance that he has given to FACDL for so many years;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS:

That the FACDL supports and stands ready to assist Ben Kuehne during this time when he seeks to find justice for himself in a criminal court of law.

Adopted by the full Board of Directors, February 8, 2008 (Jacksonville, Florida)

Rumpole says: this passed last week and we were waiting for the appropriate moment to post it. Hear hear!

BEN KUEHNE INDICTED

BREAKING BLOG NEWS

Rumors have persisted for months and today the Miami Herald reports
HERE
as breaking news that our respected colleague Ben Kuehne has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for money laudering. He is surrendering in Federal Court today.

The indictment stems from Kuehne's role in reviewing and vouching for the legitimacy of payments made by a Colombian citizen Fabio Ochoa to attorney Roy Black for representation in Miami for drug trafficking charges.

From the Herald Article:

Kuehne's research gave Black the confidence -- in the form of legal opinion letters -- to accept payments totaling $3.7 million in fees and $1.3 million in expenses from Ochoa, according to several sources. Kuehne earned a portion of the expense payments -- $220,000 to $260,000 -- from Black for vetting Ochoa's payments, sources said...

Ironically, the investigation first focused on Black following Ochoa's conviction at his 2003 trial in Miami. But authorities dropped their interest in Black and shifted to Kuehne, who became the target because his buffer-like role insulated Ochoa's defense attorney from any criminal liability for accepting the fees.

There is no joy in Mudville today, and we wish our colleague Mr. Kuehne the very best in his time of trouble and turmoil. This can be a difficult business sometimes and we sincerely hope for the best for Mr. Kuehne.