News story is that they just ruled that the secret plea of Tijuana drug kingpin should be made public (I wonder if that's got anything to do with the violence in Tijuana the last few days!).
Not clear from this whether they are still studying whether they should release the Kontogiannis notes or not, or if they've just "put it aside". Just one paragraph buried in this other story is the only mention of this going in the media from yesterday.
From:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20080305-9999-1m5sealed.htmlCartel case papers can be shown, court says
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 5, 2008
The public has the right to see documents and transcripts relating to the secret guilty plea of a Tijuana drug kingpin, despite what prosecutors say, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The ruling came in one of two cases in which The Copley Press Inc., publisher of The San Diego Union-Tribune, is working to gain access to information about secret guilty pleas.
Criminals typically plead guilty in open court, but that didn't happen in at least two cases last year, one involving the Arellano Félix cartel and another involving the Randy “Duke” Cunningham bribery scandal.
Prosecutors fought to keep details of those guilty pleas secret even after the San Diego federal judge in both cases, Larry A. Burns, ordered their release to the public.
...
The appeals court has not ruled on the other case, involving New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis. He pleaded guilty to money laundering and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The court heard arguments from government lawyers behind closed doors and from the newspaper's lawyer in public.
...
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