UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. ELIEZER MENAS ASPRILLA, Register No. 02671-506, JULIO CESAR RAMIREZ MOTA, Register No. 02665-506, HENNY MANUEL CASTRO RAMIREZ, Register No. 02669-506, and DANNY ALEXANDER CARRERA-BERNABE, Register No. 02661-506, Defendants. CASE NO: 22-20013-CR-ALTMAN 05/17/2023 ROY K. ALTMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE ORDER *1 After an hours-long evidentiary hearing—the first of two—we dismissed…
Category: § 70502
Southern District of Florida rules government failed to establish subject-matter jurisdiction by not asking the right questions during interdiction
Here is a holding you don’t see every day. In a rare and lengthy (20+ pages) ruling, U.S. v. Menas Asprilla, et al., No. 22-20013-CR, 2023 WL 3496459 (S.D. Fla. May 17, 2023), a district court in the Southern District of Florida dismissed an indictment due to the Government’s failure to establish subject-matter jurisdiction. The…
U.S. v. Hernandez Osorio, et al., 2023 WL 2915838, No. 22-cr-20592-BLOOM (SDFL April 12, 2023).
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Jesus Albeto HERNANDEZ OSORIO, Luis Vidal Vasquez Vasquez, Oscar Jose Carreno Fernandez, Luis Jose Alfonzo Rodriguez, Defendants. Case No. 22-cr-20592-BLOOM Entered April 12, 2023 OMNIBUS ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS INDICTMENT BETH BLOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE *1 THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Jesus Alberto Hernandez…
The “High Seas” Includes Another Nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone
A Southern District of Florida (“SDFL”) court recently considered several commonly raised arguments by defendants charged under the MDLEA. These arguments seek to dismiss indictments on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, alleging that the U.S. Coast Guard did not ask the appropriate questions during the initial boarding process and that the MDLEA does not…
Eleventh Circuit Affirms MDLEA Jurisdiction Despite Discrepancy Between Two Coast Guard Reports Concerning a Vessel’s Nationality
If you’ve ever litigated an MDLEA case, you’ve likely seen the various reports (or case package) that the Coast Guard completes during the boarding. Well, sometimes there are discrepancies in those reports requiring factual findings by a court concerning the credibility of the boarding officer (“BO”). That’s exactly what happened in U.S. v. Liver Gruezo,…
What does it mean to “fly” your nation’s flag pursuant to the MDLEA?
When arguing (or teaching) issues of the MDLEA, we tend to over-think much of the statute’s language, largely due to the seemingly expansive breadth and extraterritorial application of it. However, the question of whether a vessel is “flying” a flag in accordance with the MDLEA (and international law) is an easy one to answer. Luckily,…
District of Puerto Rico Court Holds § 70502(d)(1)(C) Complies with International Law
In her recent decision on a motion to dismiss, Hon. Silvia Carreño-Coll did not agree with defendants’ argument that the government lacked jurisdiction under § 70502(d)(1)(C) of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA) despite the decision in U.S. v. Dávila-Reyes, 23 F.4th 153 (1st Cir. 2022) still pending with the First Circuit. The facts…