The way Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias Otoniel, pays for his defense in the United States is being covered under the radar. However, Cuban-American lawyer Arturo Hernández, who is trying his case in that country, agreed to speak to EL TIEMPO last Wednesday, May 4, about his first meeting with the capo since his extradition.
(We invite you to read: This was the first 48 hours of capo ‘Otoniel’ in US hands.)
What did ‘Otoniel’ tell you after he was returned? What are the prison conditions in Brooklyn jail? What sadness awaits him? Who pays for your defense?
These are the answers.
Yes, it surprised me because I thought they were going to suspend the refund for a while. because it was part of the process that we all know is witnessing about the truth in Colombia, and that is missing. So yeah, that surprised me a bit.
The second part of your question, I honestly don’t know the details that might have applied to the decision to return it, and I don’t want to speculate, but this one definitely surprised me.
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Now I consider the circumstances to be severe, but at the same time my client has a tendency, say, a very calm demeanor, about the terms and conditions of his detention. But they are not easy, they keep him in a very private apartment, communication with him is very limited, interviews are made through the glass. So we have to understand what it means to leave your country, to go to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, and a number of factors that are normal for an extradited person. He won’t be too happy with everything that’s happened, but it can be said that he’s handled pretty well in that context, and I’ve noticed that he’s optimistic with a desire to cooperate with the defense team.
As for the situation, I hope in the future maybe they can be improved and we are working on it, this is one of the tasks I set for myself and I hope to be able to improve this situation over time.
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No, on the contrary, he said they treated him respectfully on the plane. Absence of any abuse. What we’re talking about is the environment in which he was incarcerated: in a non-Super Max prison, the harshest, perhaps most nonviolent, prison in the federal system. But it’s a pre-trial prison and it’s on a private floor that’s hard to access for both lawyers and potentially future family visits. Because there is only one meeting room. The place looks like a small closet with a glass partition, no way to show documents, no physical contact with lawyers and so I’m telling you, I’ll try to see if I can change it in the future. Since this is a very complex situation, it is important to be able to analyze documents where there are many documents and physical contact..
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Many times I have seen them highlight their own version in high-profile cases (…) Time will tell which part of this narrative can be verified, but keep in mind that it is not my job to determine if my client is correct. guilty or innocent. This is the result of a lengthy process, which could result in a trial or a future criminal complaint. It is important to my job to defend my client’s rights as protected by the United States Constitution; and one of these rights is the presumption of innocence. My job is to protect and defend these rights, including having your own independent and willing attorney to defend you. In other words, what the prosecutors mean to me is less important than the rights granted to everyone (…) There is a difference between speaking and controlling, time will tell.
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31 years have passed after a very difficult trial. Let me tell you that there is an appeal that can be ruled against this decision regarding this case because there were many irregularities in that case. Regarding Mr. Úsuga, it is too early to speculate on what the punishment will be here. What I can say from the years of experience I have is more than forty years. This is a very serious case, the allegations are very serious and if it turns out that there is a penalty in the future, we can say that the penalty is likely to be severe.
Well, time will tell. But I have served in these courts for many years, and in essence I assume that federal judges will act in accordance with the law and the law, and will act in a professional manner. I have no reason to think that this judge will act outside of the normal and professional manner as Irizarry’s district judge, and time will tell. I’m not prejudiced, let’s say against, I don’t know that much, but I don’t need to think that it wouldn’t be fair either.
(On the topic: ‘rival’ of Otoniel, the nickname the US first wanted to take)
I am not in a position to answer now. I will say that my job is to defend the rights of my client, I have a law firm where I have been providing legal services to my clients for 42 years and I have received a reasonable payment with the experience and experience I have. years dedicated to criminal defense. I re-emphasize American law: it requires the client to be presumed innocent, so I assume my client is innocent. What you need to apply for is a license that I (before OFAC) applied for and obtained. So we’re going to drop this topic because I know this is a controversial topic and important to some people, but we comply with US law.
(See all articles from EL TIEMPO Investigation Unit here)
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Source: Exame
