Alan Finster person
also: Finster, Fenster
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
L.I.J. O'Neillperson · 13Daniel Blantonperson · 11Floyd "Freeway" Rick Rossperson · 8CIAintelligence service · 6Oscar Blantonperson · 5U.S. Department of Justiceorganization · 5Contrasorganization · 5Ricky Ross Trialevent · 5Marilyn Huffperson · 3Juanita Brooksperson · 2Iran-Contra affairevent · 2Los Angeles Timesorganization · 2Nicaraguacountry · 1San Diegocountry · 1Enrique Bermudezperson · 1Miamiplace · 1Maria Fordperson · 1Tom Gordonperson · 1San Jose Mercury Newsorganization · 1Cripsorganization · 1Bloodsorganization · 1Menendez Familyfamily · 1Robert Sobelperson · 1Hondurascountry · 1
Claims (4)
Alan Finster member_of
Floyd "Freeway" Rick Ross documented
“They raided rental properties, broke furniture, kicked holes in walls, knocked the windows out, and every one of the renters were mad at Ricky. Ross's attorney, Alan Fenster, filed a formal complaint with the department saying that the beat…”
▶ The Colonel Corner Dark Alliance Part 20 @ 43:08
L.A. Sheriff's Department covered_up
Alan Finster documented
“Sobel and his men fired back with a search warrant for Finster's financial records, accusing him of money laundering and supporting cocaine trafficking. Finster's complaints were perfunctually investigated by the sheriff's internal affairs …”
▶ The Colonel Corner Dark Alliance Part 20 @ 43:36
Alan Finster exposed
Gary Webb book_quoted
“and exposed the Mercury's investigation in his motion. And now the LA Times was onto it because it was all a setup. I should have known better.…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 23 @ 37:20
Robert Sobel ordered_assassination_of
Alan Finster documented
“Sobel and his men fired back with a search warrant for Finster's financial records, accusing him of money laundering and supporting cocaine trafficking. Finster's complaints were perfunctually investigated by the sheriff's internal affairs …”
▶ The Colonel Corner Dark Alliance Part 20 @ 43:36
Mentions (33)
▶ 43:08
They raided rental properties, broke furniture, kicked holes in walls, knocked the windows out, and every one of the renters were mad at Ricky. Ross's attorney, Alan Fenster, filed a formal complaint with the department saying that the beat…
▶ 43:36
Sobel and his men fired back with a search warrant for Finster's financial records, accusing him of money laundering and supporting cocaine trafficking. Finster's complaints were perfunctually investigated by the sheriff's internal affairs …
▶ 1:07:56
I wouldn't want you to quote me on it, but yes, I'm pretty sure. You can always call Alan Finster, Ross's attorney, and ask him. I'm sure he knows. Finster was out, so I left a message telling him I was working on a story about Blanton and …
▶ 1:08:24
kept keeping my fingers crossed, I should have known that would have been too perfect. I called Finster back to thank him for his time, and he asked what kind of story I was doing, and I told him it was about the Contras and cocaine. He sai…
▶ 1:08:52
No wonder those bastards won't give me his name, Finster said. Forgive me, but if you only knew what kind of bullshit I've been going through to get that information from those son of a bitches. And then some reporter calls me up from San J…
▶ 1:09:50
right when I was getting going. Damn, I thought. That was right when Blanton said he had started dealing drugs. Would you be willing to sit down and talk to me? He said, hell yeah. I'll tell you anything you want to know. At the end of Sept…
▶ 1:10:18
and watched as Finster and other defense attorneys made another futile attempt to find out the details of the government's informant so they could begin preparing their defenses. Assistant U.S. Attorney O'Neill refused to provide a thing. T…
▶ 28:24
He pulled out a cell phone and tried to call his attorney, Alan Fenster. While the police yelled at him to come out, a two-man SWAT team arrived with a dog and approached the house. They told me to come out, Ross said, and the next thing I …
▶ 34:53
I haven't heard that line in a long time. I said, forget it. You've got your information printed. You don't need me to comment. Look, Alan Finster filed a motion asking that the case be dismissed because the prosecutors were illegally withh…
▶ 35:22
So what I'm asking, is that true? Gary Webb knew immediately he had been double-crossed. A private eye hired by Ross's lawyer had come to his house looking for information on Blanton. But I told him very little. He then pulled out a copy of…
▶ 36:53
got someone to come to Gary Webb posing as an investigator and then use the information to undercut his story. That's basically what we're saying here. Gary Webb agreed to show the investigator one of the FBI's reports that he had gotten th…
▶ 37:20
and exposed the Mercury's investigation in his motion. And now the LA Times was onto it because it was all a setup. I should have known better.…
▶ 37:30
For weeks, Ross and Finster had been badgering me to publish the series before the trial started, figuring that publicity might give the Justice Department second thoughts about pursuing the case. But after sitting down and repping out the …
▶ 38:00
Angry and desperate, he had called and basically tried to get his attorney to get Gary Webb to publish the story. Right after Gary Webb hung up, Alan Finster called. The Justice Department, he said, had just filed a motion to prevent him fr…
▶ 39:24
The only purpose for asking questions in this regard would be to attempt to bully the U.S. into foregoing prosecution. If the CIA was involved in drug sales, it would be classified? That was a good one. The whole legal basis for O'Neill's m…
▶ 41:16
carrying a box load of records, followed by a DEA agent, Jones and Gustafson. O'Neill looked at me and looked at Jesse Katz, and then he blanched. When federal judge Marilyn Huff called the courtroom to order, O'Neill immediately asked to a…
▶ 42:15
O'Neill looked at us and turned back to the huddle. He warned the defense attorney, Juanita Brooks, to lower her voice. The reporters that Mr. Finster had brought to court today are listening very carefully, he said. As with most federal co…
▶ 43:08
That's something I'm not even sure I can say yes or no to because that comes within the realm of, look, I have no reason to believe he had any contact with the CIA and I would defy counsel to come up with any kind of credible information th…
▶ 43:40
10 minutes into a 20-minute conversation, and it dawned on us the entire motion was going to be heard in whispers at the judge's bench. I had never heard, seen anything like this, and I had covered many trials. They can't do this, he insist…
▶ 45:08
And this is like literally the trial of the century. Once again, Finster demanded that the government turn over its records about Blanton, arguing that it prejudiced Ross's chance to cross-examine his chief accuser. O'Neill calmly assured F…
▶ 45:38
I don't think my client's life should be up to the government to determine what he's allowed to see and to know about Blanton's credibility, Fenster told the judge. The system we've set up has the government review all information in the fi…
▶ 46:05
So we're supposed to trust the government to tell us if the CIA was involved, Finster said. They said that there was nothing that exists. I don't know if they really know that. I mean, I don't know if they checked with the CIA to determine …
▶ 47:07
it would come to light. But no, I haven't checked with the CIA. I don't have a reason to. Huff ignored O'Neill's stunning admission and told Finster that he should trust her to do the right thing. The judge. Why, just that morning, she remi…
▶ 47:38
wasn't relevant. Huff denied Fenster's motions. There was one other matter the U.S. wanted to take up if the court would be so kind, O'Neill said. Reaching into his briefcase, O'Neill yanked out a copy of the Morning LA Times and waved it o…
▶ 49:53
of the four copies. The defense attorneys shaking their heads, chuckling. One of them was federal public defender Maria Ford. She got to her feet. Mrs. Ford, I find it personally offensive that Mr. O'Neill would take the position that someo…
▶ 53:32
continued through 1985. During the noon break, Fenster approached me in the hallway outside the courtroom. Can we have lunch, he asked. We walked to a restaurant near the courthouse. Fenster sipped his iced tea and asked me what I thought a…
▶ 54:00
Isn't this just crazy? I mean, here I am defending a man against a life sentence, and I've got to ask a reporter if the prosecution's testimony is accurate. That's justice for you. Not as much as I'd like, unfortunately, and Gary said, as f…
▶ 54:31
The solution was right here in front of me. Blanton was up there on a witness stand, under oath, in front of a federal judge. He was a sitting duck. I'd never have a better question, a better chance at questioning him than through the attor…
▶ 54:56
Setting a notepad out of his briefcase, I excused myself and went to a payphone. Miraculously, Dawn was at her desk, and I asked her if there was any problem with that. She said, no, I think that's a great idea. I wish you could do all your…
▶ 55:23
There were certain families in Nicaragua that were part of the ruling cartel in Nicaragua. Is that correct? He asked him. O'Neill turned and glared at me and then jumped to his feet. Excuse me. I have an objection. What is the relevance? It…
▶ 56:23
Oh, he looked at O'Neill and O'Neill was staring at him from other people because the order prohibiting CIA testimony, Finster was unable to pursue the line of inquiry. He quizzed Blanton about his meeting in Honduras with CIA agent Enrique…
▶ 56:51
And several times the prosecutor leaped up to object to Fenster's questions. Most of the time he was overruled. Blanton was like a deer caught in headlights. Every so often the DEA agent Jones would turn and give me an evil eye. He knew whe…
▶ 45:20
This was the man who was questioning my ethics for giving Alan Fenster questions to ask a government witness about Contras and drug operations? Jesus. I'd certainly never spied on American citizens. Looking into Penka's background further, …