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</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>Dear Friends of CJA,
<br><br>
We are pleased to announce an unexpected victory in our efforts to pursue
justice against Haiti's most notorious death squad leader, Emmanuel
"Toto" Constant. As you may recall, last year CJA, CCR and pro
bono co-counsel Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal won a $19 million
civil judgment against Constant for crimes against humanity, attempted
summary execution, and other torture on behalf of three clients.
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Constant was separately indicted by the state of New York for mortgage
fraud and entered into a one to three year plea agreement earlier this
year. Last week, CJA learned that the state prosecutors and the
Department of Homeland Security asked the judge to reduce Constant's
sentence to time served in order to speed his deportation to
Haiti.<br><br>
Haitian human rights experts were extremely concerned that Constant would
escape justice if he returned to Haiti and that he might be a catalyst
for more violence. As a result, CJA and CCR worked quickly to submit a
series of letters and affidavits to the court which detailed Constant's
record of human rights abuses as well as information about the problems
in the Haitian judicial system. <br><br>
The judge agreed and threw out the plea agreement based on Constant's
record of human rights abuses. Constant is scheduled to stand trial in
September.<br><br>
CJA also arranged to have Haitian human rights attorney Mario Joseph
testify about Constant and the fragility of the judicial system. We are
honored to work closely with partners such as Mario Joseph who, despite
his own heavy caseload responding to the on-going human rights crisis in
Haiti, dropped everything to travel to New York. Below is a copy of the
press release. <br><br>
All the best, <br><br>
<br>
Pamela Merchant<br>
Executive Director <br><br>
</font><font size=3>center4justice@cja.org <br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
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