‘Cuban Five’ Consider Supreme Court Appeal

MIAMI — Lawyers and supporters of five men convicted of being part of a Cuban spy network said yesterday that the legal and political fight to free them had just begun, despite an appeals court ruling rejecting a new trial.

Among the options for the so-called “Cuban Five”is a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, an attorney for one of men, Leonard Weinglass, said.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that widespread opposition among Cuban-Americans in Miami to the communist government of Fidel Castro and publicity about various “hot-button” Cuban issues was not enough to warrant a new trial for the men, who were convicted in 2001.

The judges found scant evidence that jurors in the case were tainted by pretrial publicity, most of which focused on “general anti-Castro sentiment” or unrelated issues such as the international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez.The young Cuban boy was returned to his homeland by the Clinton administration over the fierce objections of Cuban exiles in Miami.

“The news materials submitted by the defendants fall far short of the volume, saturation, and invidiousness of news coverage sufficient to presume prejudice,” the court said in a 68-page decision.

— Associated Press

Former Sailor Faces Court-Martial

RICHMOND, Va.— A former Connecticut-based sailor accused of taking a Navy laptop computer loaded with classified information and peddling its contents to a foreign government is being held for a possible court-martial, the Navy said Wednesday.

The Navy said in a statement that Petty Officer Third Class Ariel Weinmann was successful in giving the classified information to an undisclosed foreign government before he destroyed the computer. The classified information was described as “relating to the national defense of the United States of America …”

Petty Officer Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore., was held at the brig at Norfolk Naval Air Station on six charges returned at a July 26 Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury, the Navy said.

The charges include three counts of espionage, including a March 2005 visit to Bahrain to “attempt to communicate, deliver, or transmit” the classified information to “a representative, officer, agent, or employee of a foreign government,” the Navy said.

Months later, the Navy said, Petty Officer Weinmann deserted the submarine USS Albuquerque for more than eight months to travel to Austria and Mexico to “communicate, deliver, or transmit” the information to a foreign government.

In March, near Vienna, the Navy alleges, Petty Officer Weinmann used a mallet to destroy the computer’s hard drive.

A U.S. Fleet Forces Command spokesman, Ted Brown, would not comment on which government or governments Petty Officer Weinmann is charged with spying for, what he was asking for in exchange for the information, or how he obtained the computer.

Petty Officer Weinmann was picked up at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on March 26 and transferred to Norfolk, the Navy said.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reported his confinement last week and, on Wednesday, detailed the charges against the sailor.

The Navy also charged Petty Officer Weinmann with failing to properly safeguard and store classified information, making an electronic copy of classified information, communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it, and stealing and destroying a government computer.

A fire control technician previously assigned to the submarine based at New London, Conn., Petty Officer Weinmann faces a maximum punishment of death if his fleet commander decides to press for a court-martial.

— Associated Press

Police Chase Ends Up On Runway

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A driver believed to be mentally ill crashed through a fence and led police on a high-speed chase around a runway, endangering passengers on two planes, authorities said.

The car crashed through a perimeter security gate and onto a runway at Southwest Florida International Airport, came close to a Southwest Airlines plane that was taking off, and sped under the wing of another plane preparing to depart, authorities said.

— Associated Press