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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Song Filing
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 18 – Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez took a briefcase of cash and said he would stuff drugs up the noses of the gringos, a jury was told on March 16. The audio call-in line, at the demand of the prosecutors was cut off during that testimony (then turned back on later).

But Inner City Press live tweeted it, morning here and then the afternoon, about the video(s), here.

  On March 18, in what turned out to be the last day of evidence, the defense cross examined DEA Agent Gonzalez, and gun expert Jonathan Fox testified. Then Judge Castel teed up the closing arguments - and some deliberation - for Friday. Inner City Press live tweeted it here:
Podcast here

Day 7 of evidence, Fuentes' lawyer gave DEA Agent Gonzalez a 50-page report to question him on, so 30 minute break ending now They're back. Judge Castel tells jury to blame him for the delay, not any of the parties. Now Fuentes' lawyer read a stipulation (agreement), that the DEA conducted at least 10 joint interviews of Javier and Leonel Rivera.

Fuentes' lawyer: The casa presidencial is in downtown Tegucipalpa, right? Have you been in downtown Tegucigalpa? Agent Gonzalez: I've been to my hotel. And one restaurant.

 Fuentes' lawyer: So when you say the defendant's phone was in the Casa Presidencial, it could have been within 500 meters, anywhere, right?  Agent Gonzalez: I don't know that. Fuentes' lawyer asked if Agent Gonzalez found any evidence on the phone of communications between the defendant and "Attorney General Crivelli."

AUSA started to object, then stopped. Fuentes' lawyer understood, and said he withdrew the question. Said, "Mayor."

 Fuentes' lawyer: You had Leonel Rivera audio record his conversations with Tony Hernandez and Fabio Lobo, right? Agent Gonzalez: Yes.

 Cross examination is over. Meanwhile: sentencing of presidential brother Tony, for whom the US is asking for life in prison, is moved a week back, from March 23 to March 30 - so as to not occur (probably) during Fuentes jury deliberations

 Re-direct: AUSA: Is one of the narco-traffickers who stamp their initials on kilos of cocaine Tony Hernandez, the brother of Juan Orlando Hernandez? Agent Gonzalez: Yes.

 Judge Castel said resume at 1:45. But at 1:50 pm, the prosecutors are in their chairs, but the defense is not. Conferring with Geovanny Fuentes if he wants to put on a defense or even... to testify? Initial question (we'll answer here), will defense put on a case. Inner City Press

 Now Geovanny Fuentes is in, sitting alone at defense table with 2 Marshals behind him. Interpreter hands him the headphones.  Now defense lawyers are in place; still no judge or jury. Down in SDNY cafeteria there were carts just rolling in. Maybe lunch delay?

 [As trial comes near an end, all the detail seem more poignant. On March 30 convicted Tony Hernandez faces life in prison. Geovanny is talking to 1 of his lawyers while the other talks with prosecutor. The lawyers will go on to other cases. Defendant, not so much.

OK, interstitial fill is over. Now Fuentes' lawyer to cross examine Fox the gun expert. Fuentes' lawyer: These guns came from a government repository, right? Fox: That is correct. Fuentes' lawyer: Do you know whose phone the photos came from? Fox: No. Nothing more

 AUSA: The government rests. Judge Castel asks an open ended question to Fuentes' lawyers. There is no clear response, except for a request to a whispered sidebar that we cannot / will not live tweet. Thread will continue. Judge Castel: We will begin closing arguments tomorrow morning. I believe we will finish them, and instructions, by mid-afternoon and you (jurors) can begin to deliberate. [That's to say, a fast Friday verdict is possible. Or they return Monday. We're in end-game]

 Judge Castel moves tomorrow's starting time up by 15 minutes to 9:15 am (local time in New York). To give the jurors as much time as possible to deliberate on Friday. How late might they go? They can stay (well) past 5, if they are close to a decision Inner City Press @innercitypress · 4m With juror gone (for the last time?), Judge Castel says he'll ask the District Executive to move the lawyer's box forward toward the jury box to be closer to them. In fact, he's calling the District Executive's office now, from the bench.

 Fuentes' lawyer: As we discussed at sidebar, I think we should add a statute of limitations charge, like Judge Sand. Judge Castel: Either party can submitted that they want to me. It's 2:18 pm now, we'd need it be 5:30 this afternoon. That's it. We're adjourned.

The question remains: Does the right to access to Federal court proceedings extend to listen-only telephone lines, in the time of COVID and beyond? Should it?

 The question has been further raised in the ongoing Honduras narco-trafficking case US v. Geovanny Fuentes, which Inner City Press has been covering in-person in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where it is "in-house press."

   On the morning of March 13, Inner City Press filed a challenge to the cut-off of audio access to the US v. Fuentes trial, citing the First Amendment, COVID and real-world politics, see here and below.

  Late on the evening of March 14, the US Attorney's Office filed a three page letter into the docket, specifically arguing the the call-in line be eliminated for two entire Witnesses and everything they say. US Attorney's Office's letter, now uploaded on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud, here.

 Inner City Press has immediately responded in opposition, here, stating among other things that "the US Attorney's Office seeks to specifically ban public access to two of their Witnesses, while saying that a transcript would be available at some unspecified date afterwards. Given that the Office has yet to unseal improperly redacted portions of their filings, there is little reason to have confidence in the speed of transcription, or that such transcripts would not be too expensive for the public or media. 

Inner City Press after its first filing waited nine hours, including this song, here, to report about it. Full first letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud, here.

  Inner City Press itself obeys all existing rules and is grateful for the additional access as in-house media (particularly since it is banned from covering the UN, which now Constitutional rights such as the First Amendment exist).

  But others have rights too - including journalists and regular citizens of Honduras. If the SDNY prosecutors are going to exercises essentially universal jurisdiction for any wire transfer that passes through lower Manhattan, how ever briefly, they should not oppose access to their trials by those impacted, for better and worse.

Judge Castel is a good judge, in Inner City Press' experience. When petitioned he has ordered the unsealing of certain court documents, in a North Korea crypto-currency conference case and the tech / child sex sentencing of Peter Bright former of ArsTechnica, both of which Inner City Press covered and requested. And Judge Castel is certainly in the mainstream in his March 12 psoition. But should it be rethought? Is there a right? Should there be? Watch this site.

The case is US v. Diaz, 15-cr-379 (Castel).

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