Miami Five Defense Lawyers Ask Court to Reconsider Case
Campaign News | Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Defense lawyers will introduce to the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeal of Atlanta a document requesting to reconsider the case of the five Cuban antiterrorists imprisoned in the US this coming July 24th.
Roberto Gonzalez, a member of the defense team told the press on Wednesday that when the reconsideration document is introduced the process is halted until an answer is received as it appeals the verdict issued by the three judges on June 4th.
That panel ratified the guilty verdicts on the five anti-terrorist fighters and the sentences of Rene Gonzalez (15 years in jail) and Gerardo Hernandez (two life terms plus 15 years).
The cases of Ramon Labañino (life term plus 18 years), Fernando Gonzalez(19 years) and Antonio Guerrero (life term plus 10years) were submitted
to Florida Court for re-sentencing by Judge Joan Lenard, the same judge that imposed the grave and unjust sentences on The Five in 2001.
On Gerardo's case, the decision was not unanimous; because Kravitch stated that the government had not presented evidence to charge him on conspiracy to commit murder.
Roberto, Rene Gonzalez's brother, who participated in the Freedom for the Five meeting in this city, denounced the slowness of the process, the delay of the judges to announce the verdicts, long gaps between verdicts and the contradictions in the sentences.
He explained that after the verdict of this new appeal, the defence has 90 days to go to the Supreme Court, but he says they are not expecting anything favourable from the US government on this case. Miami is still hostile scenery for a new trial, he added.
"We are at a moment in which International solidarity with this cause is growing; every day more people join the struggle to free our brothers? added the lawyer.
