The government's position on sentencing is contained in its post-trial motion to "remand" both Mandell and Harrington -- meaning to revoke their bail and have them confined pending a sentencing which the government is pushing to have occur as quickly as possible -- on the grounds that they are flight risks. (For the link, a PACER subscription, very inexpensive, is required and is worthwhile.)
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Saturday, July 30, 2011
Convicted Sky Capital Defendants Face Life in Prison
The government's position on sentencing is contained in its post-trial motion to "remand" both Mandell and Harrington -- meaning to revoke their bail and have them confined pending a sentencing which the government is pushing to have occur as quickly as possible -- on the grounds that they are flight risks. (For the link, a PACER subscription, very inexpensive, is required and is worthwhile.)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tea Party: Most Dominant Political Force in America
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Ex-Yankee Hideki Irabu Dead; Suicide Suspected
Police suspect this is a suicide. Irabu was 42.
Irabu pitched for the Yankees between 1997 and 1999 and later for the Montreal Expos. Irabu once was called a "fat pussy toad" by legendary and notorious Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.
More to come...
Eric Dixon
Eric Dixon LLC
World-Class Strategic Analysis
917-696-2442
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
FBI Resisting Recording Witnesses
[Update: The Justice Department announced on May 22, 2014 that it will now require the videotaping of interrogations of suspects in most instances. However, the policy does not close off the prosecutors' easy way to avoid getting evidence which might exonerate or exculpate a witness or make it difficult or impossible to build a case or threaten that witness: just avoid interviewing the witness at all. That is exactly what Eric Dixon went through several years ago, when in response to prosecutors' threats he offered to answer any questions prosecutors might have had, with only one condition -- that the session be videotaped. Not surprisingly, the offer to answer questions, to sit for an interview, was declined. Read Eric Dixon's account here.]
If the FBI wants to talk to you, they may be setting a trap for you where you walk into the interview totally innocent, and are totally vulnerable to being charged with a crime afterwards, no matter what you say.
[See of federal prosecutors being suspiciously hesitant to ask any questions when the one condition of a videotaped session was imposed.]
Without a tape-recording of what you actually said, it's much easier for the FBI to prosecute you by simply using its 302 to claim you said something -- that you never said.
And this malevolent strategy is useful only when the FBI cannot prove you've done anything wrong -- or when you're totally innocent. When there's real evidence of wrongdoing, that should remove any temptation to manufacture a crime.
Think about this the next time you want to report suspected wrongdoing. The friendly interview you have, when you think you are doing the right thing, may actually be a spider web designed to trap and catch the unwary in arguably false or contradictory statements or omissions. You walk in innocent and leave guilty. Now how's that for deterring crime?
So what happens when the sole arbiter of what a witness says in an FBI interview is the 302 Report written by an FBI agent? If that witness should later be compelled to testify at a grand jury proceeding (leading to an indictment of the target of the investigation) or at the trial itself, he is under tremendous pressure to testify consistently with what the 302 report claims he told the agents when interviewed. Should a witness give testimony that is in conflict with the 302 report, he opens himself up to a felony conviction –either he had lied to the FBI in his initial interview, or he is lying to the grand jury or the court (or the congressional committee) in his testimony. Either way, he remains stuck between the Scylla of perjury and the Charybdis of a false-statements charge. Few question the veracity of the 302 report; after all, who will a jury more likely believe, a single witness or two upstanding FBI agents swearing that what they wrote in their 302 report accurately represents what the witness said when interviewed? When the feds suspect that a witness might tell a tale at the grand jury or at trial that is inconsistent with the prosecution’s favored factual scenario, the prosecutors will usually show him or his lawyer the 302 report. It becomes clear to the witness that he either must stick to the 302 version, or else risk a false statement or perjury charge when he testifies differently under oath.
This little known but quite ubiquitous system is one of the reasons that Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz coined his oft-quoted aphorism that federal prosecutors and FBI agents teach witnesses “not only how to sing, but how to compose.”
Deficits, Defaults and the "Tea Party"
Eric Dixon
Eric Dixon LLC
World-Class Strategic Analysis
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Urging Yes on Islanders Referendum, With Hesitation
Vote yes, and here is why. A "no" vote means the Islanders start preparing to leave Nassau and possibly, the tri-state metropolitan area. A "yes" vote preserves the options for negotiations and legislative action to finally, ultimately protect taxpayers.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Guilty Verdicts in Sky Capital Case
Sunday, July 24, 2011
FBI Keeping Files on Regular Americans
The article raises anew the specter (the reality of which you can be sure) of regular Americans having their activities monitored and becoming, and remaining, subjects of federal law enforcement surveillance. What is troubling is the common perception that subjects of surveillance have done something to earn that surveillance, and the suspected stigmatization of those among us upon whom "files are kept."
Perhaps most troubling, as revealed in the opinion piece, is the difficulty in getting routine information about why surveillance, monitoring and other tracking activities were engaged in to begin with. A Freedom of Information Act request can and often does hit a brick wall, courtesy of the exemptions for "ongoing investigations." In other words, the FBI -- or other government executive branch agencies -- can preserve secrets on the basis of self-serving declarations invoking the national interest, investigations or other legitimate-sounding purposes.
Eric Dixon is a New York lawyer who merely assumes -- honestly -- that he might be under surveillance. Mr. Dixon's tongue-in-cheek analysis has previously been found to be less than amusing to its targets.
Overcriminalization: Guilty Without Criminal Intent
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Singer Amy Whitehouse Found Dead
Eric Dixon
Eric Dixon LLC
World-Class Strategic Analysis
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Mandated Free Contraception -- For Others, On Your Dime
This reader hilariously asked whether the government mandate includes some other things. Her venting email rant follows:
(This may be the funniest comment this blog has ever received -- a true "LMAO" or "ROFL" moment for those of you conversant in internet-textspeak!)
The Heat Is Too Damn High
New York City hit 103 degrees today shortly before 1 pm, with a heat index of 115 (courtesy of a 76 degree dewpoint) measured before noon.
Newark: 108 and counting...
Short take: The weather misery has much more to do with the humidity and the very high dewpoint (measuring the ability of moisture to evaporate), than the air temperature. Dry heat is more tolerable.
Eric Dixon
Eric Dixon LLC
World-Class Strategic Analysis
917-696-2442
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Hit and Run Attack on Lawyer's Reputation
UPDATE: The paragraph "Disclosure" has led to a more recent 2014 article titled, "When Chris Christie Threatened Me," available also on this blog.
Was Bloomberg's Girlfriend DUI in Accident?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Acquittals Coming in Sky Capital IPO Fraud Case?
Eric Dixon is a New York lawyer and investigative analyst who does not represent anyone in the Sky Capital case.
Guilty Plea: Blame My Illness, Don't Blame Me, It Really Wasn't Me!
This is another example of someone who admits to a crime but tries to duck ultimate responsibility by citing some other mitigating factor. Sometimes those factors are relevant and legitimate. Other times an admitted felon is trying to game the system, citing false injuries or traumas or pretending to be an alcoholic in order to get "extra credit" for rehab.
With Chiesi, she seemed to say, don't blame me, blame my illness, that's why I did this crime.
In other words, Chiesi isn't guilty. Its her illness which is guilty. It's really not her. Therefore, she really didn't do anything wrong in this rationalized and delusional view.
Fortunately, district judge Richard Holwell had none of it.
Chiesi's plea for leniency today was unsuccessful. Federal district judge Richard Holwell saw the plea for the ploy that it was, another attempt by someone used to special treatment to get more special treatment. This is a victory, not just for society at large, but for the legitimate hardship cases.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Fed Government Funds Sex Organ Size Study
Remember...we report...you decide.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Islanders' Referendum May Kill Taxpayers To Save Team
The once-iconic New York Islanders, winners of four Stanley Cups in 1980-83 and remembered across North America for a generation of all-time great players, have sustained serious fan base, sponsorship and television audience deterioration in the last 25 years. The Islanders have been at or near the bottom of the 30-team National Hockey League in attendance since the mid-1990s, and are now reported to lose in excess of $20 million annually despite being at or near the player salary "floor" (estimated to be about $46 million this upcoming season) as mandated in the player collective bargaining agreement.
Eric Dixon is a New York investigative lawyer and former New York Islanders season ticket holder. Mr. Dixon has substantial experience in business deal due diligence -- including finding out how a proposed deal will not work -- and in formulating and drafting the complex agreements necessary in these types of transactions.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
NYC Forced Abortion Disclosure Blocked By Federal Judge
Manhattan federal district court judge William Pauley (a conservative judge hailing from Al D'Amato's Nassau County stomping grounds) has issued a preliminary injunction blocking a new New York City ordinance that would require abortion-alternative centers to disclose information about abortion services.
This ordinance is a blatantly obvious content-based regulation that is equally clearly unconstitutional. The injunction being issued should be no surprise.
The city ordinance, requiring the abortion alternative centers (promoting adoption and supporting women who are willing to carry the baby to term) to disclose to the public that they do not provide abortions, was scheduled to go into effect Thursday.
The legal fight is just beginning. Motions in support or against a permanent injunction preventing the ordinanc from being effected will be forthcoming.
Eric Dixon is a New York lawyer who is not connected with this case.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Bachmann's Iowa Pledge Mess Opens Door For Chris Christie
Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum each signed a 14-point traditional marriage pledge, which contained some questionable and controversial statements on different issues. Both candidates now are backing off the statements while expressing support for the traditional one man-one woman marriage that was the core of the pledge.
This mistake could be fatal to either candidate. It shows a recklessness, a lack of due diligence, in eagerly signing onto a document without fully reading it -- an explanation which either defies belief or shows the campaigns to be in such chaos that someone deserves to be fired.
Assuming the candidates actually read the entire pledge document, they are fully responsible for its comments. The failure to have read it fully -- if that is the case -- is fatal in my opinion, showing a terminal lack of basic organizational judgment. If the candidates did read it and now backtrack from its controversial statements, that shows either poor judgment in terms of the issues, or a gutlessness. Admit the statements are wrong and admit the mistake in signing the pledge; in short, be an adult and own up to the mistake.
Even worse would be the explanation that the candidates succumbed to pressure to sign the pledge in order to gain or retain support from some Republican groups.
Part of being presidential timbre is the ability to withstand pressure to do things you do not want or should not do. These amateur hour mistakes show neither Bachmann nor Santorum to be worthy candidates for the highest office in the land.
The mistakes also show why the "window of opportunity" for Chris Christie remains open for 2012. Despite his denials, all signs point to his eagerness to be tapped. He is building political equity, despite his home state problems (below 50% approval, a sign of vulnerability for any incumbent) and propensity to make unnecessary enemies with bombastic attacks.
While Christie can be baited -- a different and also potentially fatal political liability that could quickly doom his presidential aspirations -- it is doubtful he would make the dumb mistake of Bachmann and Santorum.
However, given the lack of a clear-cut Republican consensus candidate and the somewhat plateauing support of frontrunner besides Mitt Romney, who remains unable to "pull away" from the pack, even a glass-jawed Christie could be a formidable primary challenger and even party nominee.
He has his weaknesses in both policy and persona. However, Barack Obama is no Buster Douglas. The one killer punch may never come. On strictly strategic grounds, Christie should be considering a 2012 run.
Eric Dixon is a New York election lawyer, political strategist and crisis management consultant.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Prosecuting the Innocent: Little White Lies
This Monday Wall Street Journal article addresses the credibility issues of the alleged rape victim in the case of former International Monetary Fund executive Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Prosecutors -- and the press corps -- are urged to remember the fateful words of former Reagan Administration Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, who said after being acquitted of corruption charges in the Wedtech investigation, "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?"
A habitual liar is not necessarily lying all the time. However, witnesses who have pleaded guilty and are awaiting a favorable recommendation from prosecutors at sentencing -- the so-called 5K1.1 letter, named for the section of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines covering credit for cooperation with the government -- do have every incentive to lie, embellish, exaggerate and otherwise deceive in their account.
Eric Dixon is a New York lawyer who handles strategic analysis, complex investigations, crisis consulting, litigation stress consulting and political matters.
Why Housing Is Going To Zero: You Can't Get A Mortgage
As I have written before, a myriad of factors are combining to threaten any housing recovery, and in fact are more likely to cause a renewed, sustained and sharp decline in housing prices.
The banks are hoarding cash. This manifests in a reluctance to extend loans, either for mortgages or for small businesses. The fear of not being repaid on loans strongly indicates that banks will fight tooth and nail not to grant mortgage principal reductions in any but the rare case. (Although banks have granted more principal reductions than is commonly supposed; this is a bad policy and threatens to encourage a wave of strategic defaults from the homeowners who are most able to pay their mortgages.)
Read previous Eric Dixon commentary on the housing crisis:
June 2011: Economists notice that bank tightness prevents prices from stabilizing.
February 2010: Eric Dixon is among the very first to call Obama's proposed ban on foreclosures a bad policy move that would prevent the housing market from finding a natural bottom.
Will Independence Party Survive Its Founder's Death?
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Felon-Turned-Witness Used Multiple Names: Catch Me If You Can
UPDATE: Three years after this post was originally published, one of the subjects of this article received a highly unflattering profile in this Bloomberg Magazine expose.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Government Witness on Drugs? Oh It's No Big Deal
This means, in essence, that the informant lied to a federal district judge in New York in order to get dismissed as a defendant in a civil case, because he relied on a bankruptcy stay that he very much intended to have lifted by his own, prior motion.
If a government informant and witness -- and in this case, someone who had already pleaded guilty to multiple felonies -- would demonstrably lie to a federal district court judge, the question must be posed: Who wouldn't he lie to?
More interesting, however, is that this cooperator had three versions of names (all on actual public court documents)...all while working for the federal government! One version for the New Jersey federal court (where he pleaded guilty), a second for the New Jersey bankruptcy court, and a third for the New York federal district court in which he was sued civilly in another case involving possible criminal mortgage fraud. Of course, the multiple names help evade detection and thwart pre-trial discovery...but not everyone gets thrown off the trail.
Eric Dixon LLC
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