Judge blocks US disclosures in Cuban 5 spy case

Judge blocks US disclosures in Cuban 5 spy case
By CURT ANDERSON (AP)

MIAMI — A federal judge on Friday halted a U.S. search for national
security damage assessments that had been ordered by another judge in
the politically charged case of three convicted Cuban spies who are
seeking lenient prison sentences.

Without comment, U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard issued a stay sought by
federal prosecutors, who want more time to appeal the original order
they say was far too broad and improperly required disclosure of top
secret government information. Prosecutors also insisted they have found
no damage assessments relevant to the so-called Cuban Five case.

"The government has made a diligent and thorough search for the material
the defense requested, and this search has yielded no formal damage
assessments," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Heck Miller in a
court filing.

The issue of national security damage is key for the three Cubans whose
espionage conspiracy sentences in 2001 — life for Antonio Guererro and
Ramon Labanino, 19 years for Fernando Gonzalez — were vacated earlier
this year by a federal appeals court.

The order requires U.S. officials to search for any national security
damage assessments of the Cubans' actions, which could bear on whether
three of the five get a more lenient sentence. If no damage assessment
exists, defense attorneys say, the U.S. cannot justify seeking long
prison terms for the three.

Lenard is scheduled to re-sentence the three men Oct. 13, but the
dispute over damage assessments has thrown that date into doubt.

The appeals judges said there was insufficient evidence that Guererro
and Labanino had obtained or transmitted top secret U.S. information to
justify their sentences. In Gonzalez's case, the appeals court ruled he
was wrongly labeled as a leader or manager of the Cuban spy ring known
as the "Wasp Network."

Evidence during the 2001 trial in Miami showed that the group attempted
to infiltrate U.S. military installations, spy on Cuban exile groups and
monitor politicians opposed to the communist Cuban government. At least
one Cuban spy was involved in the 1996 downing of three Cuban exile
Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban fighter, according to trial
testimony.

The Cuban government considers the five men heroes and regularly
denounces the case as a political show trial. Their U.S.-based advocates
claim the men are being unjustly punished because no U.S. secrets were
compromised.

Prosecutors have also sought to cast doubt on claims by the defense that
U.S. officials have in the past cited national security damage
assessments. In her filing, Miller said broadcast comments cited by
defense lawyers made by a former chief of Miami's FBI office, Hector
Pesquera, referred not to a post-arrest assessment but rather on the
initial evidence against them men.

"He is aware of no damage assessment conducted as a result of this
case," Miller said of Pesquera.

Lenard set an Oct. 16 date for defense lawyers to file more arguments on
the damage assessment issue.

The Associated Press: Judge blocks US disclosures in Cuban 5 spy case (3
October 2009)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hl_0esH8r8CROx_3TiF8aXxoU2ygD9B3579G0