Vanessa Kachadurian, more on corruption of public officials Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida

Mayor Jose Rodriguez By Eliot Kleinberg Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH — A judge Thursday refused to delay the corruption trial of suspended Boynton Beach Mayor José Rodriguez, set to start in two weeks. Rodriguez’ lawyers had filed Tuesday with the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, arguing a circuit judge doesn’t have the right to rule on a county ordinance. They want the appeals court to order Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Charles E. Burton to dismiss what was the first charge ever filed against someone under Palm Beach County’s year-old ethics ordinance. Rodriguez, 50, was suspended from office Jan. 27, one day after his arrest on charges he pressured the city’s police chief and interim manager to stop an investigation into allegations he abused his then-11-year-old stepdaughter. Investigators declared the allegations unfounded, but Rodriguez was charged with misusing his power as mayor. On Oct. 2, Burton had thrown out one of four corruption counts. It alleged Rodriguez resisted, obstructed or opposed a law-enforcement officer. But Burton had refused to dismiss the other three counts, including the one that accuses Rodriguez of breaking the county ethics ordinance’s ban on “corrupt misuse of official position.” Rodriguez’s lawyers have challenged the ethics ordinance as unconstitutionally vague. In motions to the appeals court, lawyers for Rodriguez argued the county ordinance punishes the same conduct as the state statute, which they said is a civil infraction and not a crime. They had asked the appeals court to “stay all proceedings in the trial court” while it considers the motion and also had asked Burton to delay the case. Rodriguez’ trial was originally set for July, then delayed to this month. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Oct. 25. On Thursday, Rodriguez lawyer Jason Weiss — Rodriguez did not attend the hearing — told Burton he worried the appeal court would rule during proceedings; “I don’t want to stop on the second day of the trial if there’s an order,” he said. Assistant State Attorney Daniel Funk, the prosecutor in the case, said, “We’re ready to go to trial.” Burton asked if the two would consider separating the one count and proceeding with the rest. Weiss said yes; Funk said no. Burton then denied the motion to delay the trial, saying, “If the Fourth tells me I can’t hear it, I won’t hear it. But until they rule … ” Rodriguez also was arrested July 16 in a separate case in which prosecutors charged he defrauded a bank when he did a “short sale” of a Palm Beach condominium but actually sold it to a relative and, in effect, back to himself. Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Rodriguez’s estranged wife, Sarah Marquez, filed divorce papers Wednesday in Phoenix. It’s her third divorce filing since the two were married in February 2010 in Palm Beach County. She first filed for divorce in August 2010, and that case was closed in July 2011. She then filed again Oct. 11, 2011, but withdrew that filing Jan. 12, about two weeks before Rodriguez’ first arrest. Rodriguez asked a judge to let the divorce proceed, but the judge declined. It was Marquez’ Aug. 4, 2011, interview with Boynton Beach police that ultimately led to Rodriguez’ arrest on the corruption charges. “The actions of the BBPD (Boynton Beach Police Department) have devastated our family and our marriage,” Rodriguez said Thursday evening in an email. “This is something that we have been discussing for some time and so now we are moving forward to begin the healing process.” http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/judge-refuses-to-delay-corruption-trial-of-suspend/nSZrC/

Vanessa Kachadurian on Corruption in judical systems threating the protection of human rights.

Corruption in judicial systems is threatening the protection of human rights, a United Nations independent expert said, urging governments to implement policies to strengthen the rule of law to combat this practice. Credit: UN “The pervasiveness of corruption in the judiciary and the legal profession, whether one off or endemic, is very worrying because it directly undermines the rule of law and the ability of the judiciary to guarantee the protection of human rights,” the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, told the General Assembly while presenting it with her latest annual report. “A judiciary that is not independent can easily be corrupted or co-opted by interests other than those of applying the law in a fair and impartial manner,” she said on 24 October 2012. “Strengthening the judiciary from within, as well as providing all the safeguards for its independence vis-à-vis other public officials and private actors, is essential in combating and preventing instances of judicial corruption.” Mechanisms of Accountability Knaul noted that corruption in the judiciary has the potential to victimize those that do not have the means to play by the informal rules set by a corrupt system, the UN reported. “Corruption in the judiciary discourages people from resorting to the formal justice system, thereby diverting dispute settlements towards informal systems that more than often do not abide by the basic principles of impartiality, fairness, non-discrimination and due process,” she said. Mechanisms of accountability, the Special Rapporteur underlined, should be put in place to investigate acts of corruption and they should be developed with the full participation of the actors concerned. “I strongly believe that the existing international principles and standards on human rights and corruption provide adequate guidance on how to tackle judicial corruption while respecting the independence of the justice system and human rights,” she said. Knaul also emphasized that judges, prosecutors and lawyers are in a unique position to tackle the wider phenomenon of corruption in other instances of the public and private sectors, and that “anti-corruption bodies should be established or developed to effectively assist judicial actors to combat corruption and to implement and strengthen transparency within the public sector.” Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes. http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/10/corrupted-judges-prosecutors-lawyers-threaten-human-rights-2485338.html

Vanessa Kachadurian blog on U.S. Attorney Ron Machen's D.C. Corruption probes

U.S. Attorney Ron Machen should step up his D.C. corruption probes By Colbert I. King, Published: November 9 Votes have been counted. Winners are smiling; losers are sulking. Life, as we know it, should go on. But it can’t. A major piece of business is still hanging fire: sorting out the city’s corrupt from the incorruptible. Without progress on that front, government in the District remains tainted. The sorting out falls to U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. He’s due no pity. The task is of his own choosing. Machen has said that when he took office in 2010, rooting out public corruption in the District was his top priority. In a recent Washingtonian magazine article, Machen declared that D.C. officials must be held accountable and that “The people of this city deserve ethical, strong leadership.” He promised, “When people violate the law who are in positions of trust, there are going to be consequences.” After teeing up the issue with fanfare, has Machen delivered on his promise of “consequences”? The answer is not as definitive as Machen’s declaration. Yes, two former members of the D.C. Council have pleaded guilty to felonies. Harry Thomas Jr. is in prison; Kwame Brown awaits sentencing. Chalk up those convictions to Machen. But it’s no stretch to say the groundwork leading to the charges against Thomas was laid by dogged investigative work by The Post’s editorial board and a probe conducted by the D.C. attorney general’s office. That office found that Thomas had diverted some $300,000 in public funds for his personal use. So the Thomas case was low-hanging fruit. Likewise, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics referred the case against Brown to Machen in July 2011 to investigate allegations of financial wrongdoing in Brown’s 2008 campaign. The feds did not discover Brown’s missteps on their own. You may be wondering about the three senior aides to Vincent Gray’s 2010 mayoral campaign — Thomas Gore, Howard Brooks, Jeanne Clarke Harris — who have pleaded guilty to felonies. Give Machen credit. But again, without help from others — minor Democratic candidate Sulaimon Brown, who publicly charged that he was paid to stay in the 2010 mayoral race and harass then-Mayor Adrian Fenty, and the subsequent reporting by The Post’s Nikita Stewart, Mike DeBonis and Tim Craig — federal prosecutors might be twiddling their thumbs. As for those “consequences” Machen promised to rain down upon the heads of the city’s corrupt, let’s review the record. Kwame Brown pleaded guilty to providing false information on applications to obtain two bank loans worth more than $200,000 and, according to Machen, has been cooperating with the prosecution. If the court buys Machen’s recommendations, Brown will spend — drum roll, please — six days in jail . . . to be served over three weeks, followed by three years of supervision. The corrupt must be shuddering, right? Howard Brooks pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities about giving payments from Gray’s campaign to Sulaimon Brown. And Machen’s “consequences”? For Brooks’s “substantial assistance” to federal prosecutors, he was sentenced to 24 months of probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service — a sentence Machen did not oppose. Only prosecutors and defense attorneys know what Brown and Brooks gave up in exchange for Machen’s display of leniency. It had better be good, but who knows? The splashy Washingtonian article, complete with a photo of Machen, sleeves rolled up, leaning on his desk, glaring at the camera, suggested that even with all Machen has on his plate — national security cases, murder and drug prosecutions — he is personally involved in the Gray investigation. Toward what end? Thus far, Machen has yet to land any big fish. To be sure, Brooks, Gore and Harris are not minnows. They are more like perch. Sharks are still in the water. Asked about this, a federal official speaking on background noted to me that Gray and big-time D.C. business owner Jeffrey E. Thompson — who is thought to have supplied money that Harris gave to relatives, friends and employees to make campaign contributions to various federal and local political candidates — have lawyered up with some of the best representation in town. What’s more, the official said, folks who may know stuff aren’t talking, and that is making Machen’s job harder. But Machen, he said, isn’t dragging his feet or chasing his tail. More than a dozen federal lawyers are working full time on the corruption probe. On top of that, a federal grand jury reportedly is probing the D.C. Lottery contract awarded by Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is poring over the records of Gandhi’s operation. Citizens troubled by the clouds lingering over their city and the lack of information have a right to ask: “How long, O Lord, how long?” kingc@washpost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/colbert-king-us-attorney-ron-machen-should-step-up-his-dc-corruption-probes/2012/11/09/f2981414-2a11-11e2-96b6-8e6a7524553f_story.html

Vanessa Kachadurian on another attorney gets his hands caught in the cookie jar

This time it was his mother's estate. http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/lawyer-gets-probation-weekend-jail-in-theft/article_8e932088-1aa0-505f-bcd5-6a65b30f686d.html March 27, 2012 12:00 am • Kim Smith Arizona Daily Star A Tucson lawyer was placed on four years' probation and ordered to spend 52 consecutive weekends in jail Monday for stealing from his mother's estate. Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Miller also ordered Joseph Homer Riley Jr., 60, to do 100 hours of community service and to pay $114,750 in restitution. Riley was indicted in December 2010 on four counts of theft and one count each of fraud and money laundering. According to court documents, one of Riley's 12 siblings went to the Arizona Attorney General's Office because he suspected Riley was stealing from their late mother's estate and three businesses in which the estate had a major investment. Detectives with the Arizona Department of Public Safety determined Riley had stolen nearly $170,000; a forensic accountant hired by Riley's brother, Rory, determined there was more than $937,000 missing, court documents state. On Jan. 26, Riley pleaded guilty to one count of theft, admitting he stole between $3,000 and $4,000 from the estate in 2004. Riley told a probation officer he borrowed the money intending to pay it back, but acknowledged his actions could be misinterpreted. Riley has already paid the $114,750 Miller ordered him to pay. He's also paid $157,000 under the terms of a civil lawsuit filed by some of his siblings and cousins. Court documents indicate the majority of Riley's siblings thought the plea agreement was too lenient and wanted Riley imprisoned. Three siblings support Riley. Riley is no longer able to practice law. On StarNet: Read Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, for news out of Pima County's courts at azstarnet.com/courthouse