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Supreme Court to review case of treasure claimed by Spain
Released : Wednesday, February 08, 2012 12:39 PM
Washington, Feb 8 (EFE).- The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider a motion from a Florida firm seeking an emergency injunction against a judicial order compelling the company to hand over to Spain $500 million in gold and silver coins salvaged from the bottom of the Atlantic in May 2007.
The brief submitted by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. will be reviewed "in the coming days" by Justice Clarence Thomas, high court sources told Efe Wednesday.
Supreme Court intervention is Odyssey's only hope of avoiding the handover of the hoard to Spain.
Odyssey filed the brief days after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rejected the Tampa-based company's motion to stay the same court's November decision ordering the firm to turn over the coins.
The 11th Circuit is expected this week to formally convey its decision to the District Court in Tampa that originally heard the case, which will then establish a timetable for the handover of the coins.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday ruled in December 2009 that Spain was the rightful owner of the treasure Odyssey salvaged in the same area off Portugal where the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, a Spanish navy frigate, was destroyed in battle in 1804.
Within days of recovering the $500 million in coins, Odyssey took the loot to Gibraltar and loaded it onto a chartered Boeing-757 for transport back to Florida.
The treasure remains at a secret location in Florida, but Spanish officials have been allowed to conduct periodic inspections to verify that the cargo is intact.
Madrid says the treasure came from the Mercedes and that the vessel and its contents rightfully belong to Spain under the principle of sovereign immunity.
Odyssey, however, contends that contemporaneous Spanish diplomatic communications show the Mercedes was on a commercial mission at the time of her sinking, invalidating Madrid's sovereign immunity claim.
The attorney representing the Spanish government, James Goold, told Efe earlier this week that Odyssey's Supreme Court brief relies on arguments "that have been rejected at every stage of the case."
Update: Judge Thomas denied Odyssey's motion.
High court rejects stay in Spanish treasure case
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A U.S. Supreme Court justice has rejected an appeal by Florida deep-sea explorers who wanted to hold onto a trove of Spanish shipwreck treasure while the courts finish sorting out ownership rights.
Federal courts have ruled that the 17 tons of silver coins and other artifacts found by Odyssey Marine Exploration off the Portuguese coast belong to Spain and must be surrendered. Odyssey sought to delay handing it over while the company continued its appeals.
A federal court rejected the request for a stay last week. Odyssey appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Justice Clarence Thomas denied the application without comment on Thursday.
Odyssey said there is at least one other motion for an emergency stay before the U.S. Supreme Court.