January 12, 1990

Federal Prisoner 41586 Could Beat the Rap

Federal Prisoner 41586 stands before the bar of American justice - and has a good chance of beating the rap.

In free life, FP-41586 was a tin-horn dictator and indicted drug trafficker of Panama named Manuel Antonio Noriega. He gave himself up to an invading United States Army after 10 days of sanctuary in the Vatican embassy at Panama City.

Maximum Leader now is in maximum security.

When no country would give him asylum, he decided it was better to take his chances with the permissive U.S. legal system than surrender to Panamanian authorities who want him for corruption and murder of political opponents.

There is no doubt the newly installed government would convict him, but it does not have the death penalty. Nevertheless, killing in the manner of Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, was a real possibility.

President George H. Bush says, “The United States is committed to providing Gen. Noriega a fair trial.” Presiding Judge William M. Hoeveler is known as an “even-handed” jurist who gives defendants full hearings.

We are told that FP-41586 is “encouraged” by defense strategy being developed by his American lawyers.

Small wonder. The American judicial process specializes in criminal rights and technicalities of law. The “white powder” lawyers of Miami are experts on loopholes.

An array of defenses for FP-41586 are under consideration:

• As the “head of state” of Panama, Noriega cannot be tried by a foreign power.
• The U.S. has no jurisdiction in another country.
• Incriminating records -- found in his headquarters -- were obtained by soldiers without a search warrant.
• He is a political prisoner who cannot be tried in a civil court.
• His civil rights were violated by his being taken away from the place where alleged crimes were committed.
• The U.S. cannot sit a jury of Noriega’s peers, who are in far-off Panama.
• It is impossible to find 12 jurors who have not been influenced by prejudicial publicity.
• To convict him, prosecutors must produce secret CIA documents that might embarrass President Bush.

Legal Maneuvers

Even a first-year law student could run this formidable list of maneuvers into a two-year trial and plea bargain - if not outright acquittal.

The legal firm representing FP-41586 says its partners have turned away all other clients for this year in order to devote full time to the case.

We cannot judge legal technicalities of law, but we can speak to constitutional principles.

First of all, FP-41586 is not now, nor ever was, the Panamanian head of state. He was a general. He ran the country through puppets who he installed as president.

A precedent for U.S. trial of a foreign leader exists in the conviction of the chief minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands on drug charges in 1985.

The U.S. has jurisdiction because FP-41586 voluntarily submitted to U.S. authorities, and he was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents while he was airborne on a U.S. plane over international waters. He was advised of his Miranda rights, in Spanish.

The U.S. has the right under international law to protect its citizens unlawfully jeopardized in foreign countries. Also, it has the right, and obligation, by its canal treaty with Panama to guarantee peaceful passage through the waterway.

As for the "political prisoner" ploy, should FP-41586 escape punishment here, he would be returned to Panama where he would face both political and civil charges. Courts there are not addicted to quibble.

FP-41586 is charged by two indictments, one in Miami and another in Tampa, with taking more than $4.6 million in bribes to provide money laundering and refueling services for Colombian drug lords. If convicted, he could face 145 years of prison sentences and $1.1 million in fines.

Despite the obvious evidence, and statements by five other defendants in custody, the U.S. is plowing new legal ground. The world will be watching closely because drug abuse and related crime affects all nations.

What happens in Judge Hoeveler’s court will determine whether the civilized world has any hope in winning the war against drugs.

By Lindsey Wilger Williams, retired newspaper publisher and syndicated columnist