A federal judge granted a small victory to an elderly ex-CIA operative Friday, ruling that jurors in his immigration fraud trial could only see a photocopy of a Guatemalan passport that bears his picture and a false name.
Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Communist militant from Cuba, is accused of lying during citizenship hearings in El Paso in 2005. Prosecutors allege that the passport especially its stamps indicate that Posada sneaked into the US by sailing into Miami and not by crossing the Texas-Mexico border with a smuggler, as he claimed during those hearings.
Posada also is accused of failing to acknowledge his involvement in a series of hotel bombings in Cuba that killed an Italian tourist in 1997. The 82-year-old Posada, long considered a personal nemesis of Fidel Castro, is charged with perjury, obstruction and immigration fraud.
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone said prosecutors didn't properly authenticate the passport's contents and refused to allow it at trial. But a few hours later, she allowed a packet of immigration documents certified by US and Guatemalan officials that included a photocopy of the passport. Whether the copies will have as much influence on the West Texas jury as the original passport remains to be seen. If not, the ruling could be a setback for the government.
Prosecutors said the passport's stamps show that Posada went to Isla Mujeres, near the Mexican resort city of Cancun, in March 2005. That's where they believe he boarded a yacht called the Santrina, then sailed to Miami and slipped ashore.
Two of the 11 criminal counts against Posada specifically accuse him of lying about having the passport with his picture but issued under the name Manuel Enrique Castillo Lopez. A third count is also related to the passport.
US Department of Homeland Security forensic expert Troy Eberhardt testified that the passport was authentic, and prosecutors produced Guatemalan government documents showing it had been legally applied for using Posada's picture but the false name.
When defence attorneys objected, Cardone ruled that the passport had not been sufficiently authenticated to meet federal evidence rules. The judge said the issue was not if the passport was real, but if its contents including the Mexico visa stamps were legit.
"You've had these documents for a long time to not have set proper proof," Cardone told prosecutors, suggesting that an official from Guatemala or Mexico could have been subpoenaed to do so.
But later Friday, Assistant US Attorney Bridget Behling introduced a collection of documents that US authorities obtained from Guatemalan officials as part of their investigation against Posada. The pages included a copy of the passport, showing Posada's picture but the name Manuel Enrique Castillo Lopez. It also said he was born in Huehuetenango province, Guatemala.
The defence again objected, but Cardone ruled the documents had been properly authenticated since they were originally certified by both governments. Behling handed the packet to the jury for each member to look through. She did not bring up the stamps and visas contained on pages copied from the passport, but is expected to do so when the case resumes Monday.
Prosecutors still may have trouble with the passport issue, however, since Posada's defence attorneys have raised questions about whether any physical evidence, including fingerprints, proved Posada possessed it.
The passport was discovered in November 2005, when authorities searched the suburban Miami offices of the Caribe Research Foundation, which owned the Santrina yacht. Santiago Alvarez, a chief financial supporter of Posada, is among the foundation's leaders and has been jailed for refusing to testify in this case. Prosecutors have produced other evidence that suggests Posada was in Isla Mujeres, including testimony from the Santrina's mechanic and a photograph of Posada getting his haircut there.