On the last day of October, Texas lawyer Alexey Tarasov, who represents Rostov native Konstantin Yaroshenko, paid the required $200 to the Manhattan federal court and filed a petition to defend another well-known Russian, Viktor Bout.
Bout was found guilty of conspiring to sell weapons to a terrorist organization on November 2, 2011. By law, he had until November 3, 2014, three years from the conviction, to file a petition for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.
On October 31, Tarasov submitted a request to the court for an additional 60 days for Bout’s defense to prepare such a petition. Tarasov indicated that Bout engaged him in mid-September, and in mid-October, Bout also hired the firm headed by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Michael Sullivan, a partner in Ashcroft’s firm, will be handling Bout’s case. Sullivan, a former member of the Massachusetts Legislature and the state’s top federal prosecutor, also served as the interim director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under President Bush. He unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for the U.S. Senate to replace John Kerry, who became Secretary of State.
Tarasov, as Bout’s new lawyer, has been thoroughly reviewing the Russian national’s trial and appeals materials. In October, he traveled to several countries in Europe and Asia, gathering testimony from witnesses and examining new evidence. During this investigation, doubts arose about the legitimacy of Bout’s criminal conspiracy charges, his extradition to the United States from Thailand, and the defense strategies used at trial and during the appeal.
In his court submission, Tarasov expressed his professional opinion that the newly obtained information likely shows that Bout was denied an impartial trial guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
The 60-day deferment requested is partly to allow Bout’s legal team to obtain a special license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury. This license is necessary for Bout’s lawyers to legally receive payments, either from him or from other individuals. The Ashcroft firm has already applied to the Treasury Department for this license. Without it, the defense cannot afford expert services, translators, and other necessary expenses. The lawyers plan to collect evidence in different countries around the world, including in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Tarasov promised that a motion for a new trial for Bout would be filed by January 1, 2015.
Source: Vladimir Kozlovsky, BBC Russian Service, November 3, 2014
