News Americas, New York, NY, Thurs. June 16, 2011: The attorney for accused Jamaican drug lord, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, wants U.S. wiretaps on his client excluded.
Attorney Stephen Rosen this week filed a memorandum of law in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to exclude the wiretaps against Coke.
Rosen is arguing that the secret memoranda of understanding (MOUs) signed by former Minister of National Security Dr Peter Phillips allowed the U.S. to breach the constitutional rights of Coke and scores of other Jamaicans.
“On May 31, the United States government declassified the MOUs which were signed in 2004 between the Jamaican, British and American governments which allowed these foreign states to eavesdrop on every Jamaican,” Rosen argued. “So when the applications to eavesdrop on Mr Coke were made to the Supreme Court, nobody told the judge or judges that the information would be listened to or be shared with foreign security agencies and the court clearly indicated the four persons who should get the information.”
The move comes as the Jamaican don is slated to return to court on July 8th for a hearing. A date for the start of his trial could be set next month.
Coke was captured last June 22 and quickly sent to New York where he remains jailed awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he trafficked drugs to the U.S. and funneled profits and guns back to Jamaica.
