This same Monday, the two defendants chose and hired their lawyers.
MIAMI, United States. – Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores formalized this Monday the hiring of two criminal lawyers in the United States to represent them in the process being processed in the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan.
According to notifications presented in the file, Maduro will be defended by Barry Pollack, a Washington-based lawyer known for having represented the founder of WikiLeaks for years. Julian Assangewhile Flores will be represented by Texas lawyer Mark Donnelly, who requested authorization to litigate the case in New York.
The appearances come before a first hearing set for noon in New York, according to press reports citing the court record and case calendar.
In Maduro’s case, Pollack filed a “notice of appearance” as his defense attorney in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, a procedural step that officially establishes who will represent him before the court. Media specialized in judicial and financial information identified Pollack as a criminal litigator with experience in sensitive and high-profile cases.
Pollack is a partner at the law firm Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP and his public professional profile describes him as a trial attorney with extensive experience in criminal defense. In his biography Among other points, his role as Assange’s lawyer and his participation in the negotiation of the agreement that led to the release of the founder of WikiLeaks stands out.
Cilia Flores was represented by Mark Donnelly, a lawyer based in Texas. According to ABC NewsDonnelly is listed as his attorney in a notice filed with the court this Monday, and the same report indicates that he requested admission pro hac vice to be able to act in New York (a common procedure when a lawyer is licensed in another state).
Donnelly’s professional profile published by his signatureParker Sanchez & Donnelly, points out that he worked for 12 years at the Department of Justice (DOJ). There, according to that biography, he was chief counsel to the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Texas and directed the fraud division of that office for more than two years, with investigations and litigation linked to financial crimes and other “white collar” matters.
In practical terms, the landing of Pollack and Donnelly in the file suggests that Maduro and Flores are preparing for a technical defense from the start of the process, in a court—the SDNY—that usually concentrates federal cases of enormous political and media visibility.
The first hearing, as occurs in this type of case, functions as the formal starting point: it is when the appearance of the accused before a judge is recorded, their legal representation is confirmed and immediate procedural steps are ordered or discussed.
