| After
Honduras JOH Brother Tony Gets Life + 30
Years El Tigre Indictment Still Sealed,
Here
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Song Filing
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 2 – Honduras President
Juan Orlando Hernandez took a
briefcase of cash and said he
would stuff drugs up the noses
of the gringos, a jury was
told on March 16, 2020.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it, morning here
and then the afternoon, about
the video(s), here
and below. Geovanny
Fuentes was found guilty, and
his lawyer told Inner City
Press he thinks JOH will be or
has already been indicted.
On March
16, JOH's brother Tony
Hernandez was belatedly up for
sentencing before U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge P. Kevin Castel, who
oversaw his trial leading to
guilty verdicts in October
2019. Judge Castel sentenced
him to life plus thirty years
and said in prison he should
reflect on how to help his
family "and [his] country" -
perhaps a reference to telling
the US government and then
juries what else he knows.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it, here and
below. The
ensuing
celebrations,
across Worth
Street from
the SDNY
courthouse and
in Honduras,
Inner City
Press dubbed
the
"Castel-ebracion."
Now on
April 2, with the indictment
of El Tigre Bonilla still
listed as "under seal," Inner
City Press is publishing the
indictment on its
DocumentCloud, here.
Why is this still listed as
sealed? Watch this site.
From March 30:
Judge Castel: Juan Antonio
Hernandez Alvarado, you are
remanded to be imprisoned for
life on Count 1... & 30
years on Count 2, consecutive.
Forfeiture of $138.5 million.
No fine.
Judge Castel: You
have the right to appeal,
including as a poor person. I
hope that while you are in
person you will reflect on
your life and what you've done
and turn your life around.
Perhaps you can do some good
for your family and your
country.
Defense
lawyer Brill: I will file a
notice of appeal, and then be
relieved. Judge Castel: We are
adjourned.
A question still:
Does the right to access to
Federal court proceedings
extend to listen-only
telephone lines, in the time
of COVID and beyond? Should
it?
The
question has been further
raised in the ongoing Honduras
narco-trafficking case US v.
Geovanny Fuentes, which Inner
City Press has been covering
in-person in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, where it
is "in-house press."
On
the morning of March 13, Inner
City Press filed a challenge
to the cut-off of audio access
to the US v. Fuentes trial,
citing the First Amendment,
COVID and real-world politics,
see here
and below.
Late on
the evening of March 14, the
US Attorney's Office filed a
three page letter into the
docket, specifically arguing
the the call-in line be
eliminated for two entire
Witnesses and everything they
say. US Attorney's Office's
letter, now uploaded on Inner
City Press' DocumentCloud, here.
Inner City
Press has immediately
responded in opposition, here,
stating among other things
that "the US Attorney's Office
seeks to specifically ban
public access to two of their
Witnesses, while saying that a
transcript would be available
at some unspecified date
afterwards. Given that the
Office has yet to unseal
improperly redacted portions
of their filings, there is
little reason to have
confidence in the speed of
transcription, or that such
transcripts would not be too
expensive for the public or
media.
Inner City Press
after its first filing waited
nine hours, including this song,
here, to report about
it. Full first letter on Inner
City Press' DocumentCloud, here.
Inner City
Press itself obeys all
existing rules and is grateful
for the additional access as
in-house media (particularly
since it is banned
from covering the UN, which
now Constitutional rights such
as the First Amendment exist).
But others
have rights too - including
journalists and regular
citizens of Honduras. If the
SDNY prosecutors are going to
exercises essentially
universal jurisdiction for any
wire transfer that passes
through lower Manhattan, how
ever briefly, they should not
oppose access to their trials
by those impacted, for better
and worse.
Judge Castel is a
good judge, in Inner City
Press' experience. When
petitioned he has ordered the
unsealing of certain court
documents, in a North Korea crypto-currency
conference case and the tech /
child sex sentencing
of Peter Bright former of
ArsTechnica, both of which
Inner City Press covered and requested.
And Judge Castel is certainly
in the mainstream in his March
12 psoition. But should it be
rethought? Is there a right?
Should there be? Watch this
site.
The case is US v. Diaz, 15-cr-379
(Castel).
***
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