Attorneys ask for more time to prepare defense of FIU prof, wife accused in Cuba case

Attorneys ask for more time to prepare defense of FIU prof, wife accused
in Cuba case

By Vanessa Blum
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

March 1, 2006

Lawyers for a Miami husband and wife accused of illegally passing
information to the Cuban government asked a federal judge Tuesday to
delay their trial for at least six months, saying the case is more
complex and involves more evidence than first anticipated.

Carlos Alvarez, a Florida International University professor, and his
wife Elsa, who worked as a coordinator in the university's counseling
center, were charged last month with illegally passing information to
Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence. Both are at the Federal Detention
Center in Miami. Their trial is set to begin in May.

In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for the couple inventoried evidence
provided by the government on Feb. 27: three laptop computers, three
computer hard drives, 204 disks, date books, correspondence, spiral
notebooks, lists, schedules, poems, academic articles and presentations,
business cards and financial data.

"The material taken from the home and offices of the defendants will
take months to review by counsel and their clients," stated defense
attorneys Steven Chaykin and Jane Moscowitz.

In addition, Chaykin and Moscowitz said they were notified only last
week that government agencies had been monitoring their clients'
telephone conversations. So far, no materials related to the wiretapped
phone calls have been turned over to the defense team.

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore issued an order Friday barring
those involved in the case from publicly discussing the wiretapped
calls. He did not rule immediately on the defense request to delay.

Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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