June 10, 2009
The Washington couple accused of spying for Cuba for 30 years have
enlisted the help of three heavy hitting D.C. defense attorneys.
Sidley Austin partners Thomas Green — a veteran of the Iran-Contra,
Whitewater, Jack Abramoff and Valerie Plame scandals — and Mark Hopsen
appeared today in court to argue on behalf of the couple during a
detention hearing. Walter Kendall Meyers, a 72-year-old former state
department analyst, and Gwendolyn Meyers, 71, are accused of shipping
classified information to the Cuban Intelligence Service. They both
pleaded not guilty. Sidley partner Bradford Berenson is also retained as
counsel, though he did not appear in court.
Today, Magistrate Judge John Facciola of the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia ordered that the couple remain in prison without
bail. In his official order, released earlier this afternoon, he painted
a fairly dire picture of the elderly couple's situation.
"To put it bluntly, the government's case seems at this point
insuperable," Facciola wrote.
He also found that, despite their lawyers' assurances to the contrary,
the couple posed too great a flight risks to allow them free before
trial, or to even put them on house arrest.
"These defendants have already retired and are each over 70 years old,"
the magistrate wrote. "If convicted, they face incarceration for what
may very well be the rest of their lives. That fate provides a most
compelling motivation to flee and avoid it at all costs.
"I could subject them to electronic surveillance but I have no assurance
that the device will signal the authorities in sufficient time to
apprehend them before they take the 10 minute cab ride to the Cuban
Interests Section."
The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : Sidley Austin Partners Defend Alleged
Cuban Spies (10 June 2009)
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/06/sidley-austin-partners-defend-alleged-cuban-spies-.html
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