U.S. to retry 2 lawyers found not guilty of aiding Cali drug cartel

Reuters News Service

MIAMI U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday they were prepared to try again to
convict two U.S. lawyers of committing crimes for Colombia's Cali drug
cartel after the first five month trial ended in a nearstalemate.

On Monday, the 12member jury said that it had acquitted attorneys Michael
Abbell and William Moran on one count of conspiracy in the case, but was
deadlocked on four other charges against the two men, both former federal
prosecutors.

On Wednesday, senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler declared a
mistrial on the undecided counts.

Prosecutors told the court they were prepared to try the case again. "We
are ready to go forward to retry those counts that the jury is hung on,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pearson said. He declined any further comment.

Abbell is a former top U.S. Justice Department official who went from
pursuing drug lords to representing them. Moran is a former U.S. prosecutor
who also became a defense attorney who represented cartel leaders.

In a case that broadened the traditional scope of its drug war to include
defense attorneys, the government charged that Abbell and Moran crossed a
line from representing the drug gang to participating in trafficking. Four
other lawyers named in the 1995 indictment have pleaded guilty to reduced
charges.

But defense attorneys said their clients were charged for acting as
responsible defense lawyers.

"You know this is an important case about the rights of the criminally
accused to have the most effective counsel and a lawyer who's prepared to
do everything he has on behalf of his client," Abbell's attorney, Howard
Srebnick, said.

Moran said he might have to serve as his own lawyer in a retrial, saying he
has no money to pay attorneys. "I simply don't know where the money is
going to come from," he said.

Four other defendants faced charges of shipping and warehousing drugs. The
jury found Luis Alfredo Grajales and Eddie Martinez guilty on some of the
charges and Ramon Martinez and Jose Luis PereiraSalas not guilty.