United States vs. Wesley Snipes
Noteworthy Cases
There are few lawyers in America today who have participated in more national security and terrorism charged cases than Linda Moreno. She has successfully defended clients in a number of high profile cases. For example, she represented Dr. Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian professor, in what the government described as the seminal test of the Patriot Act in United States vs. Sami Amin al-Arian, et al. After a 6-month trial, which garnered international attention, the jury refused, in a 53-count indictment, to return a single guilty verdict against Dr. al-Arian and acquitted him of several of the most serious charges. Ms. Moreno also represented the chairman of the board of the pre-eminent Muslim charity in America in the federal prosecution of United States vs. Holy Land Foundation, et al, in Dallas, Texas. Once again, the jury refused to return a single guilty verdict against her client, and the case ended in a mistrial; the second trial resulted in convictions which are currently on appeal. She recently won a trial in People of the State of California vs. Niazi, et al., where the government alleged her elderly client was the head of a secret Taliban cell in Sacramento. All charges were dismissed against him. Her representation of a Muslim client in Detroit turned the case from one in which her client was portrayed as an Iraqi spy into someone the court acknowledged as a humanitarian. She was appointed by the Court as a jury/trial consultant in the matter of United States vs. Jose Padilla, et al, in Miami, Florida, a highly publicized terrorism case watched by human rights organizations around the world. Foreign embassies have sought her services in representing their citizens accused of terrorism related charges.
Her services are sought in other types of high profile cases, as in the matter of the United States vs. Wesley Snipes. Ms. Moreno was initially retained as a jury consultant and then asked to join the trial team, in a prosecution of the African American actor in a southern jurisdiction where race was an important issue in jury selection. Mr. Snipes was acquitted of all felony charges.
Often, Ms. Moreno is hired by experienced attorneys seeking specific guidance in jury selection on high profile cases, an area of her expertise.
Practice Jurisdictions
She has practiced exclusively in criminal defense in both state and federal courts for three decades. Although she is based in Florida, Ms. Moreno represents clients around the United States. She is a member of the State Bars of California and of Florida, and is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar. She is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Middle District of Florida, the Central District of California, and the Eastern District of Michigan, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit. She has appeared pro hac vice before the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Texas, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Southern District of Florida and the New York Supreme Court. Ms. Moreno received her B.A. from the University of Southern California in 1974 and her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1979.
Areas of Practice
Ms. Moreno’s cases have involved all aspects of criminal defense practice in federal and state courts, including grand jury practice, bail hearings, motions, trial and sentence. Ms. Moreno has tried complex white collar cases, mail fraud, conspiracy, terrorism, capital murder cases, and handled matters involving civil liberties. In addition to her general practice, Ms. Moreno is frequently retained, by attorneys and clients, in complex, high profile cases to assist with jury selection. Her expertise in jury selection has been used in British courts on the issue of anti-Muslim bias in American jury trials.
Lectures
Ms. Moreno has lectured on civil liberties and terrorism prosecutions at various universities and institutions, including the law schools at Columbia, Yale and Georgetown. Her participation is frequently sought on panels on subjects involving civil liberties both in America and abroad. As a lecturer, she was invited to Oslo by the Norwegian Bar Association and the Nobel Peace Committee to address law students, parliamentary members, print and radio media on national security cases and their impact on the Constitution.
Media
Ms. Moreno has been featured often in the local media and has appeared on NPR, WMNF, WBAI, BBC World, Democracy Now, ABC, NBC, CBS, Al Jazeera, and in the pages of the New York Times, Chicago Herald Tribune, Miami Herald, St.Petersburg Times, Los Angeles Times, Tampa Tribune, the Washington Post , the National Law Journal, and the Daily Business Review.
United States vs. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Ms. Moreno is an International member of Perren Buildings Chambers
15 Old Bailey, London. www.perrenbuildings.com
Ms. Moreno has a Secret Security Clearance
Member of the Florida Bar and the California State Bar
Member of the United States Supreme Court Bar
