Court Overturns 5 Cubans’ Spying Convictions in U.S.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the criminal convictions and sentences of five men accused of spying for the Cuban government, ruling that anti-Castro sentiment in Miami prevented them from receiving a fair trial in 2001.

In a 93-page unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta cited publicity and a string of incidents before and during the trial to argue that Miami-Dade County was not a suitable venue for the case.

The seven-month trial, heard by a jury that did not include Cuban Americans, received international attention.

Lawyers for the men repeatedly asked for mistrials and at one point sought a change of venue to Broward County.

They called the opinion a landmark decision.

“The Court of Appeals went through the entire trial and cited all the kinds of antics that were taking place, including a government witness calling me a communist spy in front of the jury,” said Paul McKenna, one of the lawyers.

“They went point by point, just showing how this trial was infected from beginning to end.”

Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez were convicted in June 2001 after their federal espionage trial.

The court also overturned the murder conspiracy conviction of alleged ringleader Hernandez. He had been convicted for his role in the deaths of four Cuban exiles shot down by Cuban MiGs in international airspace in 1996.

The five admitted being Cuban agents but said they were spying on “terrorist” exile groups opposed to Castro, not the U.S. government. The defense said the agents’ primary mission was to thwart extremist exiles who supported terrorism in Cuba, including Havana bombings that killed a tourist and injured 12 others in 1997.

McKenna and other lawyers plan to ask a federal judge to release the men on bail. A hearing date has not been set.

The lawyers said it was too early to speculate where a new trial should be held. The judges noted previous arguments to hold the trial in Fort Lauderdale, but one lawyer said that the opinion might rule out the federal judicial district that includes the Florida Keys and Fort Pierce.

In a statement, authorities at the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami said they were reviewing the opinion and would not comment further. Federal prosecutors will have to start from scratch or appeal the panel’s decision, a process that could take years.

Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon applauded the ruling and insisted the men be freed pending a new trial.

“If they want to accuse them of something else, then accuse them, present evidence and search for an impartial tribunal,” Alarcon told Granma International, the Cuban Communist Party’s weekly newspaper distributed overseas.

The men received stiff sentences -- life imprisonment for three of them for counting planes at military installations and other activities.

In Cuba, relatives of the five said they felt vindicated by the appeal court’s decision.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” said Roberto Gonzalez, whose brother Rene is serving a 15-year sentence for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.

“It’s a huge happiness and a good step. We hope this will make people react within the United States and take a second look at the case ... and understand it for what it is, a case of men fighting against terrorism.”