Behind armed guards and locked doors — in a secret hearing of judicial privacy not even given to some 9/11 terrorists or East Coast mafia dons — Osiel Cardenas Guillen, one of the most feared drug lords in history, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday.
Read it all here. What has happened to the concept of open trial in this country? Just because the principals want something kept secret, the public should be able to know what is happening in our courts. At least the paper put up a fuss about this. Osiel Cardenas's lawyer was Mike Ramsey, who defended Enron's Ken Lay and the nutso real estate heir Robert Durst, among other eminent accused.
5 comments:
Beats me too, considering all the intel they had on him. It appears that they sold out hoping he'd sing honestly about others who were his competitors. They apparently, overlooked the old saying, regarding "no honor among thieves". I read the same article, and I am guessing that since he only forfeited a fraction of his profits, and is "cooperating" with authorities......that he will essentially and ultimately, be freed having been credited with "time served". The value of his behind closed doors testimony may never be evaluated, as I am guessing that once he is released, his days are numbered anyway. business as usual, south of the river.
Couple of comments here.
First, I am more than relieved to learn that the two women who were ushered in were fashionable. I was really concerned about that. Nothing says sleeze like tacky women...
Seriously, I'm about an open courtroom, too, but I am wondering if the goal is to begin the toppling of a bigger thing. Who knows. It was a plea agreement. But what about the other guys who are not showing up on the guest list at the prison. A witness protection program within the prison system? Possibly--prison violence is huge. They must be thinking that the secrecy will help reduce the violence connected to this mess.
Hey--stuff goes on like that in Victoria. Remember Jeff Grimsinger? I know small time, but that was secret, too.
Six or seven years ago, we had a deal where Dexter Eaves shooed a Vicad cops reporter out of a courtroom where a sentencing was going on, as I recall sentencing of a cop on some embarrassing infraction he'd pled out on. Paper beat Dexter up pretty bad over it.
That was the Carlos Escheverry case. He did take a beting, and rightfully so. As did Tyler when he excluded even the Sheriff from the Grimsinger sentencing. That was all about ego, though.
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