Word: noriega
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...looking for scratchy recordings of Noriega's conversations in Spanish that CNN had revealed were in its possession. When Hoeveler issued an injunction forbidding broadcast of the recordings, CNN, which had previously disseminated parts of several tapes, still went ahead to air one purporting to ^ contain Noriega's talks with attorneys. After the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld Hoeveler's prohibition, the network appealed to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He referred the matter to the full nine-member bench, which at week's end was considering an emergency CNN petition to rescind...
...midst of the tapes confusion, Noriega's lawyers added yet another twist to the case. Their client, they said, was broke. The Panamanian government claims that Noriega looted the country of up to $300 million, but all the booty that has so far come to light, an estimated $20 million in 27 bank accounts around the world, has been frozen. The attorneys, who charge up to $350 an hour, have not been paid in 11 months, and say they can no longer afford to represent the former Panamanian leader. They asked Judge Hoeveler to set aside a ceiling...
...Noriega's lawyers verified that the tapes, apparently seven in all, were recordings of their client's telephone chats, including at least one with his legal defenders, discussing potential prosecution witnesses. All such calls are normally monitored by prison authorities, unless officials know the talks specifically involve a prisoner's attorneys. The question was whether the tapings violated the no-eavesdropping rule. Noriega's lawyers argued that the Sixth Amendment protection of Noriega's privileged communication with counsel had in fact been violated. Meanwhile, CNN claimed that its First Amendment freedoms from prior restraint had been abridged...
...enforcement officials were clearly disturbed about CNN's possession of the tapes and about how the network got them in the first place. The Panamanian government has claimed to have Noriega recordings that it received from the U.S. State Department; speculation was that the tapes came into reporter Fernandez's hands from Panamanian sources...
Some people in the State Department are quietly relieved that leaked audiotapes may unhinge the government's prosecution of Manuel Noriega. "The trial is going to be very messy," says one official at State. "The defense is going to ask for all sorts of sensitive information and force us to compromise security or endanger the case against Noriega. The primary goal was always to get him out of power. I don't see what we get out of getting him convicted." Such talk may fuel the rumor among Panamanians that the tapes were intentionally passed to CNN to torpedo...