Free Republic

Former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been indicted in connection to his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and other officials are expected to make the announcement in Miami.

ATLANTA - Five men convicted in Miami for being unregistered Cuban intelligence agents are not entitled to a new trial, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The five argued on appeal that pervasive community prejudice against the Cuban government and publicity surrounding the case prevented them from receiving a fair trial. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit threw out all the convictions last August, ruling that pretrial publicity combined with pervasive anti-Castro feeling in Miami didn't allow for a fair trial. The government asked the full appeals court to reconsider. The entire 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with...

The jury that convicted the men did not include any Cuban Americans but was probably influenced by "vicious" anti-Castro sentiment, said Paul McKenna, an attorney for Gerardo Hernandez, said to be the spy group's ringleader. MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. lawyers group launched a campaign on Tuesday to free five Cuban spies convicted of plotting against the United States, saying their trial had been tainted by Miami exile politics. A federal jury in Miami convicted the five Cuban and Cuban American men on conspiracy and espionage charges in June 2001. Three were imprisoned for life and the others are...